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 Exposure to bright light can lead to greater sexual satisfaction in men who have low sexual desire, a new study suggests.

 Scientists from the University of Siena in Italy found that using a light box, similar to those used to treat some forms of depression, increased testosterone levels.

 And this led to greater reported levels of sexual satisfaction.

 But they said more research was needed before it could be used as a treatment.

 The researchers carried out their study on 38 men who had been diagnosed with disorders which cause a lack of interest in sex.

 Bright light

 One half of the group was treated with a light box, while the other half was treated with an adapted light box which gave out significantly less light.

 They were treated for half an hour early in the morning for two weeks.

 When they retested the participants, they found that the group exposed to the bright light tripled their sexual satisfaction scores while the control group's scores stayed roughly the same.

 The researchers also found that testosterone levels increased in men who had been given the active light treatment from around 2.1 ng/ml to 3.6 ng/ml - but the control group showed no increase.

 Prof Andrea Fagiolini, who led the study, said the increased levels of testosterone explained the greater reported sexual satisfaction.

 What is light box treatment?

 Light therapy is where a special lamp called a light box is used to simulate exposure to sunlight.

 A light box contains very bright fluorescent tubes - usually at least 10 times the intensity of household lights.

 They are commonly used to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder.

 A patient looks into the light box and when light hits the back of the eye, messages are passed to the part of the brain that controls sleep, appetite, sex drive, temperature, mood and activity.

 Some people seem to need a lot more light than others for their body to function normally.

 Mimics nature

 And he went on to explain how the light box treatment works.

 He said: "In the northern hemisphere, the body's testosterone production naturally declines from November through until April and then rises steadily through the spring and summer with a peak in October.

 "You see the effect of this in reproductive rates, with the month of June showing the highest rate of conception. The use of the light box really mimics what nature does."

 Prof Fagiolini said he thought the light therapy inhibited the pineal gland in the centre of the brain, which allowed more testosterone to be produced.

 Future hope

 There are several possible reasons for lack of sexual desire and treatment depends on the underlying cause.

 It can be treated with testosterone injections, antidepressants, and other medications.

 The researchers believe that light therapy in the future may offer the benefits of medication, but with fewer side effects.

 But he said they were not yet at the stage where they could recommend it as a clinical treatment.

 The paper will be presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Congress in Vienna. ||||| Shining bright lights at men might help them with flagging sex drives, according to a new study.

 Exposure to light helps boost men’s levels of the male hormone testosterone and increases sexual satisfaction, according to the new research.

 Many men experience low sexual desire after the age of 40. Some studies have estimated that up to a quarter of men might be hit by problems, which seem to depend on their age among other factors.

 Science news in pictures

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 But that flagging sex drive seems to vary with the seasons. That led scientists to suggest that it might be a consequence of the amount of ambient light, and that sex drive was reduced in the winter because it was so dark.

 That led them to shine daily doses of bright light at men, and explore the way that it changed their libido.

 Researchers at the University of Siena recruited 38 men who have been diagnosed with having low libidos.

 Half of them then spent every morning for two weeks in a room with a light box, which can emit bright white light at people and simulate the effect of more sun.

 Those men that spent more time with the box found that their testosterone levels had gone up significantly. And, accordingly, they were much more satisfied sexually, they reported.

 "We found fairly significant differences between those who received the active light treatment, and the controls,” said lead researcher Andrea Fagiolini.

 "Before treatment, both groups averaged a sexual satisfaction score of around two out of 10, but after treatment the group exposed to the bright light was scoring sexual satisfaction scores of around 6.3 - a more than three-fold increase on the scale we used. In contrast, the control group only showed an average score of around 2.7 after treatment."

 The average amount of testosterone in the group that didn’t have the lights shone at them didn’t change. But the men that were treated with the light box had their levels rise from 2.1 nanograms per millilitre to 3.6.

 "The increased levels of testosterone explain the greater reported sexual satisfaction," said Professor Fagiolini. "In the northern hemisphere, the body's testosterone production naturally declines from November through April, and then rises steadily through the spring and summer with a peak in October. You see the effect of this in reproductive rates, with the month of June showing the highest rate of conception. The use of the light box really mimics what nature does."

 He added: "We believe that there may be several explanations to explain the underlying mechanism. For instance, light therapy inhibits the pineal gland in the centre of the brain and this may allow the production of more testosterone, and there are probably other hormonal effects.

 "We're not yet at the stage where we can recommend this as a clinical treatment .. however if this treatment can be shown to work in a larger study, then light therapy may offer a way forward. It's a small study, so for the moment we need to treat it with appropriate caution." |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Men with low sex drive might try switching on a light, a new study shows. Taking a cue from depression treatment, researchers at the University of Siena in Italy found that bright light stimulates testosterone levels and led to better results in the bedroom, reports the BBC. Using a light box lined with fluorescent tubes, researchers tested the effects on 38 men diagnosed with low libidos. One half were exposed to bright lights, and the rest to lower doses of light. Those who received the brighter lights for 30 minutes daily over two weeks tripled their rate of sexual satisfaction.The amount of testosterone in the control group didn't change, but the bright-light group saw their levels rise to 3.6 nanograms per milliliter from 2.1. "The increased levels of testosterone explain the greater reported sexual satisfaction," said lead author Andrea Fagiolini, per the Independent. He said testosterone production among men in the northern hemisphere declines naturally from November through April (peaking in October). "The use of the light box really mimics what nature does," Fagiolini said. He said light therapy "inhibits the pineal gland in the center of the brain and this may allow the production of more testosterone, and there are probably other hormonal effects." Light box therapy is commonly used to treat depression caused by Seasonal Affective Disorder. Although researchers cautioned that more research was needed, light therapy could be a promising hope for men whose sex drive is off, particularly during the winter months. A quarter of men over 40 report lagging libido and other problems, reports the Independent. (Women with low libido should check their heart rate.)


Write an article based on this summary:

– The "tech surge" to fix HealthCare.gov includes some names from the industry's biggest players. Among them, per a Health department blog post, is Michael Dickerson, on leave from his job as a site reliability engineer at Google. He'll be "leveraging his experience stabilizing large, high throughput applications to improve HealthCare.gov's reliability and performance," says the post, as noted at the Verge. Software engineer Greg Gershman will also be a "key player." As a former Presidential Innovation Fellow, he focused on improving the user experience at government websites; he'll be "helping ... release improvements more rapidly." Also onboard are tech firms Oracle and Red Hat. "Most of us want to see our government operating efficiently and effectively, and it is incumbent upon us to help them do that," Oracle CEO Larry Ellison told shareholders, per USA Today.

As part of the “Tech Surge,” we’ve added key personnel from the government and private sector, including expert engineers and technology managers. These dozens of people are strengthening and reinforcing the team we have working 24/7 to address the problems around Healthcare.gov.

 They come from leading technology companies such as Red Hat and Oracle; and include individuals with expertise on site reliability; stability; and scalability.

 Two of these key personnel are Michael Dickerson and Greg Gershman.

 Michael is a Site Reliability Engineer on leave from Google. He has expertise in diving into any layer of the tech stack, from the metal to the application code to the people that write it, in order to deliver some of the world's most reliable online services.

 Michael is onsite working with QSSI, the general contractor, leveraging his experience stabilizing large, high throughput applications to improve HealthCare.gov's reliability and performance.

 Greg is a developer and entrepreneur with experience running agile development teams and creating better user experiences when interacting with government.

 Greg is working with CGI, focusing on optimizing the site to improve HealthCare.gov's performance, and helping the development process be more agile so HealthCare.gov can release improvements more rapidly.

 Besides these two, there are dozens of software engineers, developers, designers and analysts, who are methodically working around the clock on performance and functionality of healthcare.gov.

 And lastly, as the general contractor, QSSI is making sure there is a coordinated approach to the punch list, and that the experts are being used as efficiently and productively as possible.

 This post is no longer accepting comments. If you want to learn more about the Affordable Care Act, please visithhs.gov/healthcare. If you have question about or need assistance with health insurance enrollment, please visithttps://www.healthcare.gov/contact-us/. ||||| The government has tapped engineers at Google, Oracle, and Red Hat, among other companies, to assist in untangling the problems with its online health insurance marketplace.

 The site, a key part of President Barack Obama's healthcare reform effort, has numerous bugs that have prevented Americans from signing up for health insurance.

 Michael Dickerson, a site reliability engineer on leave from Google, is among the experts recruited by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency responsible for the site. Dickerson will be working with QSSI, the contractor that has been put in charge of fixing the problems with the site by November 30th.

 Dickerson will be "leveraging his experience stabilizing large, high throughput applications to improve HealthCare.gov's reliability and performance," the agency announced today. His participation does not mean his employer is involved with the effort. (Google declined to comment.)

 CMS has recruited "dozens" of engineers and analysts from the private sector

 CMS has recruited "dozens" of engineers and analysts from the private sector to work on Healthcare.gov as part of the "tech surge" announced by President Barack Obama. The agency also reportedly asked Verizon's enterprise division to help fix the site, and even more help is also coming from the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, which includes entrepreneurs and programmers who hack on government projects. ||||| New Silicon Valley recruits part of "tech surge" to fix HealthCare.gov site.

 A Google sign at the company's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. (Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP) Story Highlights Red Hat and Oracle also helping effort

 A former presidential innovation fellow also on board

 WASHINGTON — An engineer from technology giant Google has been recruited to help fix HealthCare.gov, the new federal insurance exchange website.

 Software companies Red Hat and Oracle will also assist, according to Julie Bataille, spokeswoman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which has coordinated the development of the site that has experienced numerous problems in its first month of operations.

 "As part of the 'Tech Surge,' we've added key personnel from the government and private sector, including expert engineers and technology managers," Bataille wrote in a blog item posted Thursday. "These dozens of people are strengthening and reinforcing the team we have working 24/7 to address the problems around HealthCare.gov."

 During a question-and-answer session at Oracle's shareholders' meeting today, CEO Larry Ellison said the database giant "thinks it is our responsibility as a technology provider in the technology industry to serve all of our customers, and the federal government is one of our customers, so we are helping them in every way we can."

 "Most of us want to see our government operating efficiently and effectively, and it is incumbent upon us to help them do that," Ellison said.

 Michael Dickerson, a site reliability engineer at Google, has taken leave to help rid the federal exchange of its glitches. Greg Gershman, a former Presidential Innovation Fellow and Baltimore software engineer, will help with creating better user experiences.

 As a fellow, Gershman worked to make it easier for outsiders, rather than government employees, to navigate the 1,200 websites with federal government information.

 Dickerson is working with QSSI, the general contractor coordinating the fixes to the site, Bataille wrote. Gershman is working with CGI Federal, the site's largest contractor, "to improve HealthCare.gov's performance, and helping the development process be more agile so HealthCare.gov can release improvements more rapidly," Bataille wrote.

 White House meeting

 Thursday's announcement came as a frustrated group of Senate Democrats vented their ongoing concerns about the rollout during a private meeting with White House officials, including chief of staff Denis McDonough, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner, and Jeffrey Zients, whom President Obama tapped to fix the problems with HealthCare.gov.

 "I'm extraordinarily frustrated," said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. "I don't think there's confidence from anyone in the room. This is more a show-me moment."

 Merkley said there is support from senators like himself for extending the enrollment period to make up for the glitch-riddled rollout.

 "Many of us feel there has to be a sufficient window for citizens to be able to exercise their judgment in signing up," Merkley said, "Citizens need to have that window. If there is this kind of delay on the front end, I certainly am advocating that we need to extend the window on the back end."

 Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, said he could also support a short-term extension for a few weeks to make up for the first three-to-four weeks of enrollment. "I don't think we need to go further than that." Begich also stressed that citizens are not being prevented from signing up. "Right now if people want to apply, they can," he said.

 Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said the White House officials assured wary senators that the site would be fully operational by the Nov. 30 target. "The administration has a plan," Durbin said. "They're taking the basic architecture of this and improving it and trying to make up for some of the problems that they've had."

 McDonough was tight-lipped when asked if they successfully assuaged Democrats' concerns. "I think we had a really good discussion," he said.

 Merkley was more candid. "We were all confident the system was going to up and operating by Oct. 1 and now we're not confident until it's real."

 Follow @KellySKennedy on Twitter.

 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1h3RoDv |||||


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– For the last four decades, cobalt mining has been almost non-existent in the US. That's changing now with what the BBC labels a rush for the precious metal recently named as critical to the US economy. With increases in price and demand for the silver-blue mineral—used in everything from the lithium-ion batteries to jet engines to drones—mining firms that have "never actually gone looking for cobalt" are doing so, says Trent Mell, CEO of Canada-based First Cobalt. His is one of several firms planning to dig for cobalt in the US, including in Idaho and Missouri, over the next several years. Along with the risks—there's availability and price volatility to consider, not to mention the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to establish a mine—comes the potential for big rewards. Consumption of cobalt—selling for $32 a pound, up from $20 in early 2011—is on pace to rise 8% to 10% a year, per the BBC. Indeed, some analysts expect to see shortages as soon as 2022. American-mined cobalt could ease the burden and might even fetch a premium price as the US looks to ease its reliance on imports and more companies begin to request ethical sources of the metal. ABC Australia reports that more than 60% of the world's supply comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Amnesty International claims child slaves toil in mines. Some, however, see the rush as coming too late. Tiberius Group CEO Christoph Eibl tells Bloomberg that "the craziness that you see in cobalt will in many ways actually be corrected." For example, future batteries may use less lithium, he says. "There’s so much uncertainty about how future technologies will be applied."

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption An open pit mine in Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo, where cobalt and copper is extracted

 Gold once lured prospectors to the American west - but now it's cobalt that is sparking a rush.

 Cobalt mining has not happened at any sort of scale in the United States for decades.

 But a handful of mining companies are now staking claims at sites in Idaho, Montana and Alaska in search of the silvery blue mineral.

 They are striking examples of the growing interest in cobalt - a key component in the lithium-ion batteries that power electronic devices and electric cars.

 In the past, cobalt supply depended on the markets for copper and nickel, more valuable metals that are typically extracted alongside cobalt.

 But with cobalt prices on the up and consumption projected to rise by between 8% to 10% a year, its status as a by-product has started to change, says George Heppel, senior analyst at research firm CRU Group in London.

 Image copyright First Cobalt Image caption First Cobalt hopes to develop its Idaho mine in three years

 About 300 companies worldwide are now on the hunt for cobalt deposits, CRU estimates.

 Mining giants such as Glencore are also boosting production in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where most of the world's cobalt is found.

 In the US, limited cobalt production started in 2014 for the first time in about four decades.

 Canada-based First Cobalt bought a mine in Idaho this spring and hopes to get it developed in about three years.

 Cobalt, rather than copper or another metal, is its main focus for the mine, says chief executive Trent Mell.

 "Miners like us have never actually gone looking for cobalt," he says. "There's a lot of cobalt in the world. As miners, we're behind."

 Global Trade

 More from the BBC's series taking an international perspective on trade:

 Cobalt consumption is expected to exceed 122,000 tonnes this year, up from about 75,000 tonnes in 2011, according to CRU.

 The price per pound (the measure used for cobalt) has risen above $40 this year, compared with about $20 in early 2011, and is now at about $32.

 Although increased production is likely to help meet demand in the next few years, analysts say shortages loom by as soon as 2022.

 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A woman separates cobalt from mud and rocks near a mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo

 The market dynamics have helped to build confidence, says Fiona Grant Leydier of eCobalt, which has revived plans for its own cobalt mine in Idaho that were first mooted in the 1990s.

 The firm, previously called Formation Metals, now expects production to start towards the end of next year.

 "The fundamentals for the cobalt market are so strong in a way that they have never been before," says Ms Grant Leydier. "We have a lot of interest from financiers, from potential partners and from potential employees."

 After ore containing cobalt is mined using explosives, it is taken to be refined and turned into metal, blends or chemical concentrates for use in products such as jet engines, drones and batteries.

 More than 60% of the world's cobalt is mined in the DRC, while China is the world's leading producer of refined cobalt.

 But as demand for cobalt has risen, so have concerns in the US about its reliance on imports.

 In February, the US added cobalt to a list of 35 minerals deemed critical to the economy.

 Companies active in the US say they hope their "made in America" status will help speed up government approval for their plans and set their product apart from imports.

 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A conveyor belt carries chunks of raw cobalt after initial processing at a plant in Lubumbashi, DRC

 They say concerns about corruption and child labour at mines in the DRC have also created pressure for buyers to find new sources of supply.

 "There's a few places where you can get ethically mined cobalt and we want to be one of them," says Michael Hollomon, chief executive of Missouri Cobalt. "We would like to think that that gives us an advantage."

 The company plans to start producing cobalt from an old lead mine in Madison County, Missouri this summer. It has an estimated 35 million pounds of recoverable cobalt, making it the largest such reserve in North America.

 Nevertheless, the realities of where large, high-quality cobalt deposits are found globally mean the US will never be able to completely stop importing cobalt.

 In fact, analysts expect the DRC's share of global production to increase as mining firms boost their activity there.

 China is also expected to remain the world's dominant player for refining cobalt, even as new facilities start operating in Europe, North America and elsewhere in Asia.

 Image copyright Ecobalt Image caption eCobalt has been planning a cobalt mine in Idaho for decades

 Even though US companies remain a tiny fraction of the market, they may find they are able to command a premium price for their materials, says Caspar Rawles, an analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

 "Every company in the supply chain is looking to reduce their geopolitical risk, so I think any project outside of the DRC is in a strong position in that sense," he says.

 The challenges remain significant, with the cost of setting up a mine running to hundreds of millions of dollars. The volatile price of cobalt presents another uncertainty.

 Meanwhile, the rising cost of cobalt is pushing companies to find ways to reduce reliance on the mineral.

 Gerbrand Ceder at the University of California, Berkeley is conducting research into ways of creating stable batteries that do not need large amounts of cobalt.

 However, he says deploying such technology at scale - especially in cars - is at least five to 10 years away. "I think there will be quite a lot of cobalt used for some time to come." ||||| Children mining cobalt in slave-like conditions as global demand for battery material surges

 Posted

 If you have not spared a thought for cobalt since high school science, then it might be time.

 It is having a boom, and the modern world is increasingly reliant on it — using it to stabilise batteries in phones, computers and electric cars; in fact, it is probably in the device you are using right now.

 But there is a catch.

 Cobalt is mined in a string of countries around the world including Australia, but most of the world's supply comes from just one country in Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — a nation with a long record of poorly-enforced labour standards and child exploitation.

 And because cobalt is in such high demand right now, its global price has soared, doubling over the course of last year.

 According to human rights organisation Amnesty International, that growth has put pressure on miners in the DRC to ramp up production, leading in turn to tens of thousands of children being lured or forced into gruelling and dangerous mine work.

 Amnesty International researcher Lauren Armistead has spent time in the DRC and told the ABC's daily news podcast The Signal the work in the cobalt mines was extremely hazardous, especially without the right protective equipment.

 "The work, by its very nature, is the worst possible form of child labour," Ms Armistead said.

 "Often the children are not engaged in the mine pits themselves, but they will be engaged in tasks such as crushing, transporting, sifting and carrying heavy loads."

 Ms Armistead said she believed a UNICEF estimate made in 2014 — that 40,000 children were toiling illegally in Congolese mines — was now a severe underestimate, given the recent increase in global demand.

 She said the hours the children were working were particularly exploitative — and would be even for adults.

 "Children are sometimes working 12 hours or more," she said.

 "We met one boy, Paul, who said he has been working 24 hours straight down in one of the pits."

 Much of the cobalt mined in the DRC is extracted from small mines, sometimes literally run out of semi-rural backyards.

 Former child labourer Yannick from Kolwezi, a city of more than 500,000 people in the south of the DRC, dropped out of school and went into full-time work at the age of seven.

 "When I was going to the mines it was to look after my family, because there was a lot of suffering," Yannick said.

 "I gave up on studying to help my mother — she was sick, my father was dead, and his family did not look after us."

 Yannick said the work in the mine involved intense physical labour using only a crowbar, and said conditions underground were generally hot and sticky.

 He also described former bosses who insisted their underage employees put in long working days without breaks.

 "People died in the mine, and you could suffocate when you are deep in the mine," he said.

 "When it rained, it created a lot of landslides.

 "When we were working there and when someone hurts himself, we could not even look at him — the person had to go and get treated on his own, as we were there to work.

 "It is not good to let children work at the mines."

 Mine work 'modern day slavery'

 The conditions described by Yannick amount to modern day slavery, according to law experts in Australia who think companies here could do more to isolate their supply chains from exploitative practices.

 Professor Jennifer Burn, a lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney Law School and a spokeswoman for the organisation Anti Slavery Australia, said exploitative workplace practices both here and overseas accounted for at least some of the relatively low cost of electronic goods.

 She supports the Modern Slavery Bill currently awaiting a vote in the Parliament, which would compel an estimated 3,000 Australian companies to conduct annual audits of their supply chain for signs of exploitative practices.

 "When we see goods that are becoming cheaper and cheaper, we should wonder about the source of those goods," Professor Burn said.

 "It's extraordinary for any of us really to go into any of the major supermarkets or department stores and to see how cheap these goods are — we know that they're made overseas, but it's unimaginable really that you can buy a toaster for about $10.

 "The situation in the [DRC] with cobalt mines is slavery — slavery is where a person is treated as if they're an object, and where there are powers exercised over that person as if they are a commodity."

 The Modern Slavery Bill was tabled in the House of Representatives late last month just before parliamentarians adjourned for their winter break.

 It would apply to entities in Australia with an annual consolidated revenue of more than $100 million, and would require them to submit a "Modern Slavery Statement" annually to a new Government-run register.

 A parliamentary committee is currently consulting on the bill, with a final vote due some time before Christmas.

 Topics: mobile-phones, information-and-communication, human-rights, australia, congo-the-democratic-republic-of-the |||||


Article:
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 You must log in to continue. ||||| WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. -- A large-scale search for a Scarsdale woman missing in Panama ended Sunday when officials found her body on Bastimento Island, according to multiple sources.

 The body of Catherine Johannet, who was last seen around 10 a.m.Thursday on Isla Colon was discovered on an island trail Sunday afternoon, officials said.

 A cause of death has yet to be released.

 Johannet, 23, who had been staying at Bocas del Toro, was reported missing by her friends, who also hung posters across the area in hopes of finding her, said Newsroom Panama.

 The widespread search involved volunteers and agents of the National Police, the National Civil Protection Agency, and the Bocas del Toro Fire Department.

 Johannet was reportedly heading to Red Frog Beach and had planned to return in the afternoon, said Newsroom Panama.

 She had been staying in a hostel on Bocas del Toro, where her belongings were found.

 Her family is reportedly on the way to Panama.

 Check back to Daily Voice for updates.

 Click here to read the Newsroom Panama story |||||Summary:

– "I found paradise and it's called Isla Ina," wrote Catherine Johannet on Jan. 28 on Instagram of an island off Panama's coast. It would be the 23-year-old's final post. The 2015 Columbia University grad was found dead Sunday afternoon on the country's Bastimentos Island. Now the New York Daily News cites Panama's La Prensa in reporting an initial autopsy suggests she was strangled. The Edgemont, New York, native was last seen Thursday morning. The Briarcliff Daily Voice reports she had planned to leave Colon Island, where she was staying, to go to Red Frog Beach on Bastimentos for the day; authorities were alerted when she didn't return to her hostel, and her body was found by a police officer days later in a wooded area near Bastimentos' shore. The Daily News calls Johannet a "globetrotting Scarsdale woman," and her brother Paul elaborates on that in a Facebook post. "She was a world traveler—by the age of 23, she had already visited 6 continents and innumerable countries, including a recent 18-month trip to Vietnam where she taught English Literature to local students." Panamanian investigators, in concert with the FBI, on Tuesday conducted raids on the area as part of their investigation, though no details have been given regarding them or whether there are any suspects. Adds brother Paul, "She was cheerful, adventurous, thoughtful and warm—all qualities I strive towards. I'll always look up to my youngest sister." (A teen confessed on Monday to killing an American tourist in London.)


Write an article based on this summary:

– We're going to say what should be unnecessary: You cannot charge your iPhone in the microwave. Or, as victims of the latest scam from the darlings at 4Chan have found, you can try, but the results won't be much better than sticking it in your pocket and sitting on it. The hoax is billed as "Wave," reports Mashable, an apparent "iOS8 exclusive" in which you purportedly charge your phone "wirelessly through microwave frequencies ... using any standard household microwave." The slick-looking ad for Wave, which has been making the rounds on Twitter and Reddit, helpfully recommends "60 seconds at 700W or 70 seconds at 800W." It's completely unknown how many suckers fell for Wave, but Mashable notes that "photos of fried iPhones and burned microwaves" are circulating. And apparently enough of them that the LAPD got in on the action, reports the LA Times. "This #Wave capability is a #hoax. Don't be fooled into microwaving your #iPhone6. #Apple #Smartphone," they tweeted. Meanwhile, angry Apple users with crispy iPhones aren't the only ones torqued at 4Chan: Celebrities are apparently firing back, too.

Add a location to your Tweets

 When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more ||||| Step away from the microwave, iPhone owners.

 While the newly released iOS 8 boasts several impressive features, including app extensions and improved keyboard options, the software upgrade does not — we repeat, does not — let it be wirelessly recharged in the microwave, contrary to a 4chan hoax.

 See also: The 18 Most Important Features in iOS 8

 The fake "Wave" ads, which have been circulating on Twitter and Reddit since the iOS update debuted last Wednesday, are simply untrue, trolling Apple users into ruining their phones by microwaving them for 60 to 70 seconds.

 Reddit users are attributing the hoax to a 4chan thread.

 This isn't the first time a microwaving-your-iPhone hoax has made the rounds. Videos on YouTube have touted the fake feature for years — and most likely, that's where 4chan users got the idea.

 4chan has previously attempted similar hoaxes. Last year, a spoof attempted to convince Apple users that iOS 7 would make your phone waterproof.

 It's unclear how many people fell for the Wave hoax — after all, everyone on the Internet lies and nothing is real and the world is upside down. But several people tweeted about the feature and later posted photos of fried iPhones and burned microwaves; we hope they were joking, too.

 BONUS: What Is 4chan? |||||


Speaker John Boehner said President Barack Obama must accept entitlement cuts and no tax increases in order to obtain a debt-ceiling increase from Congress, once again taking a hardline as GOP and Democratic congressional leaders head to the White House for talks on averting a U.S. debt default.

 Boehner’s comments came after Obama repeatedly praised Boehner in his own press conference this morning for being willing to explore a “grand bargain” that would cut spending on popular entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security in return for as much as $1 trillion in new revenue. Boehner pulled out of those one-on-one discussions with Obama on Saturday after coming under criticism from conservative lawmakers and activists, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).

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 reset VIDEO: Boehner firm on taxes Echo Chamber: Digging in on debt POLITICO 44

 “Our disagreements are not personal, they never have been,” Boehner told reporters on Monday afternoon. “The gulf between the two parties now is about policy. It’s not about process, it’s not about personalities.”

 Boehner added: “The president and I do not agree on his view that the government needs more revenues through taxes on job creators. The president and I also disagree on the extent of the entitlement problem and what is necessary in order to solve it.”

 Boehner insisted that “the House cannot pass a bill that raise taxes on job creators. The House can only pass a debt-limit with spending cuts larger than a hike in the debt limit, as well as real restraints on future spending.”

 The Ohio Republican also called for passage of a balanced-budget amendment. That proposal will be taken up by the House next week.

 “This boil downs to two things - the president insists on raising taxes, and they’re just not serious enough fundamental entitlement reform to solve the problem for the near and intermediate future… It takes two to tango, and they’re just not there yet.”

 Boehner denied ever discussing any tax increases during his private talks with Obama, a position that he and his aides have repeatedly stated since pulling the plug on those negotiations last weekend. Boehner said his idea was to simplify and reduce tax rates, which would result in new economic growth and more revenue for the federal government. Boehner clearly would prefer that alternative, but opposition from Cantor and Senate Republicans forced Boehner to retreat on such an agreement. ||||| The leader of the House of Representatives, Speaker John Boehner, says he agrees with President Barack Obama that the U.S. borrowing limit must be raised to avoid a government default but insists that House Republicans will not back any deal with tax increases.

 Talking to reporters shortly before a White House meeting, Boehner said there is a way to increase revenues without raising taxes. He embraced the idea of significant tax reform. But he said it cannot be done without serious changes to the major social benefit programs.

 He said Obama insists on raising taxes but the White House is not serious enough about reforming the benefit programs.

 Obama and congressional leaders are laboring to complete a deal to slash spending and raise the government's borrowing limit before an Aug. 2 deadline. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– John Boehner stuck to his guns in a press conference today, offering precious little hope that a debt ceiling deal was anywhere close to getting done. He thanked Barack Obama for praising his "good-faith effort," but said it mattered little. “Our disagreements are not personal,” he said, according to Politico. “They never have been. The gulf between the two parties now is about policy.” “This boil downs to two things: The president insists on raising taxes, and they’re just not serious enough [about] fundamental entitlement reform,” Boehner said. “It takes two to tango, and they’re just not there yet.” Boehner said he did fundamentally agree that the debt limit needed to rise, the AP reports. But he said the bill could only pass the House if it included an even larger amount of spending cuts.


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We suppose Blue Ivy is better than poison ivy, but we still have a feeling that Beyonce and Jay-Z's new bundle of joy may be the target of a few zingers when it comes to kindergarten color-learning time. And although the music industry power couple's baby girl won't have to worry about standing out in a classroom full of Catherines, she certainly doesn't have the wackiest of monikers among Hollywood's offspring.

 From Audio Science and Pilot Inspektor to Moon Unit and Apple, some celebs have Beyonce and Jay-Z's unconventional baby name looking quite tame.

 Check out some of Hollywood's wackiest baby names below:

 Close  Strangest Celebrity Baby Names of  

 Daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin

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 Head over to HuffPost Parents to help pick the top baby name of the future! ||||| We suppose Blue Ivy is better than poison ivy, but we still have a feeling that Beyonce and Jay-Z's new bundle of joy may be the target of a few zingers when it comes to kindergarten color-learning time. And although the music industry power couple's baby girl won't have to worry about standing out in a classroom full of Catherines, she certainly doesn't have the wackiest of monikers among Hollywood's offspring. |||||

– If Blue Ivy Carter raised your eyebrows, you obviously have not met the other 28 celebrity babies who made it onto the Huffington Post's list of weird Hollywood baby names: Audio Science: Shannyn Sossamon's son Kyd: The, well, kid (har, har) of David Duchovny and Tea Leoni (he's a boy) Jermajesty: Jermaine Jackson's son Pilot Inspektor: Jason Lee's son Sage Moonblood: Sylvester Stallone's son Blue Angel: The Edge's daughter Bluebell Madonna: Geri Halliwell's daughter Moxie Crimefighter: Penn Jillette's daughter Rocket: Robert Rodriguez's son Click for the full list—trust us, you'll think some of the names are jokes. (We're looking at you, Rob Morrow's daughter...)


– Facebook's IPO is looking more disastrous by the day. Regulators are now probing reports that underwriter Morgan Stanley and other banks cut their revenue forecasts for the company just days before the IPO—but only advised major clients of the change. Insiders believe the revised forecast, which smaller investors were not advised of, contributed to the weak performance of Facebook shares, which finished more than 18% below the IPO price yesterday, costing investors close to $40 billion, Reuters reports. Regulators in Massachusetts have subpoenaed chief underwriter Morgan Stanley, and the SEC is reviewing the allegations The forecasts were cut after a tipoff from a Facebook exec, according to Business Insider, which notes that such "selective disclosure" is grossly unfair to investors at best and a violation of securities laws at worst. "There is no debating this is a misadventure of epic proportions," a Greencrest Capital analyst tells CBS. "This was supposed to be the chance to restore the public's faith in the public markets and in Wall Street," he says. "And instead, it's been a reminder of everything people suspected, feared, or hated about the public markets and Wall Street."

Expand this summary.

In the run-up to Facebook's $16 billion IPO, Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriter on the deal, unexpectedly delivered some negative news to major clients: The bank's consumer Internet analyst, Scott Devitt, was reducing his revenue forecasts for the company.

 The sudden caution very close to Facebook's initial public offering - while an investor road show was under way - was a big shock to some, said two investors who were advised of the revised forecast.

 They said it might have contributed to the weak performance of Facebook shares, which sank on Monday and Tuesday - their second and third days of trading - to end more than 18 percent below the IPO price. The $38-per-share IPO price valued Facebook at $104 billion.

 Institutions and major clients generally enjoy quick access to investment bank research, while retail clients in many cases only get it later. It is unclear whether Morgan Stanley only told its top clients about the revised view or spread the word more broadly. The company declined to comment when asked who was told about the research.

 The change in Morgan Stanley's estimates came on the heels of a May 9 Facebook filing of an amended prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in which the company expressed caution about revenue growth due to a rapid shift by users to mobile devices. Mobile advertising to date has been less lucrative than advertising on desktops.

 "This was done during the road show - I've never seen that before in 10 years," said a source at a mutual fund firm who was among those called by Morgan Stanley.

 JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, which were also major underwriters on the IPO but had lesser roles than Morgan Stanley, also revised their estimates in response to Facebook's SEC filing, according to sources familiar with the situation.

 Morgan Stanley said in a statement that a "significant number" of analysts in the IPO syndicate reduced estimates after Facebook's May 9 disclosure. The investment bank said its procedures complied with all "applicable regulations."

 Devitt did not return phone messages seeking comment. JPMorgan and Goldman declined to comment.

 Typically, the underwriter of an IPO wants to paint as positive a picture as possible for prospective investors. Investment bank analysts, on the other hand, are required to operate independently of the bankers and salesmen who are marketing stocks. That was stipulated in a settlement by major banks with regulators following a scandal over tainted stock research during the dot-com boom.

 The people familiar with the revised Morgan Stanley projections said Devitt lowered his revenue estimate for the second quarter and also cut his full-year 2012 revenue forecast.

 The new revenue forecast was $4.85 billion for 2012, versus more than $5 billion earlier, one of the people said.

 For the second quarter of 2012, the new revenue estimate was $1.111 billion, down from about $1.175 billion previously, the person added.

 The second-quarter revenue forecast suggested that Facebook's year-over-year revenue growth might slow from the first quarter of 2012, one of the investors said.

 "That deceleration freaked a lot of people out," the investor added.

 Scott Sweet, senior managing partner at the research firm IPO Boutique, said he was also aware of the reduced estimates.

 "They definitely lowered their numbers and there was some concern about that," he said. "My biggest hedge fund client told me they lowered their numbers right around mid-road show."

 That client, he said, still bought the issue but "flipped his IPO allocation and went short on the first day."

 "VERY UNUSUAL"

 Sweet said analysts at firms that are not underwriting IPOs often change forecasts at such times. However, he said it is unusual for analysts at lead underwriters to make such changes so close to an IPO.

 "That would be very, very unusual for a book runner to do that," he said.

 The lower revenue estimate came shortly before the IPO was priced at $38 a share, the high end of an already upwardly revised projected range of $34 to $38, and before Facebook increased the number of shares being sold by 25 percent.

 "It's very rare to cut forecasts in the middle of the IPO process," said an official with a hedge fund firm who received a call from Morgan Stanley about the revision.

 (Reporting by Alistair Barr, Olivia Oran and Poornima Gupta; Editing by Jonathan Weber, Martin Howell, Ian Geoghegan and Steve Orlofsky) ||||| And now for some more bombshell news about the Facebook IPO...

 Earlier, we reported that the analysts at Facebook's IPO underwriters had cut their estimates for the company in the middle of the IPO roadshow, a highly unusual and negative event.

 What we didn't know was why.

 Now we know.

 The analysts cut their estimates because a Facebook executive who knew the business was weak told them to.

 Put differently, the company basically pre-announced that its second quarter would fall short of analysts' estimates. But it only told the underwriter analysts about this.

 The information about the estimate cut was then verbally conveyed to sophisticated institutional investors who were considering buying Facebook stock, but not to smaller investors.

 The estimate cut appears to have influenced the investment decisions of at least some institutional investors, dampening their appetite for Facebook stock, and crucially, affecting the price at which they were willing to buy Facebook stock.

 As I described earlier, at best, this "selective disclosure" of the estimate cut is grossly unfair to investors who bought Facebook stock on the IPO (or at any time since) and didn't know about it.

 At worst, it's a violation of securities laws.

 This latest chapter in the Facebook IPO story began this morning, when Reuters' Alistair Barr reported that the research analysts at the company's lead underwriters—Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan—had cut their earnings estimates for Facebook during the company's IPO roadshow. This was highly unusual, if not unprecedented (I've been in and around the tech IPO business for almost 20 years, and I've never heard of it happening.)

 Analysts cutting estimates is generally regarded as significant negative news for stocks. This is especially the case when the analysts who cut their estimates are very close to a company—and, therefore, are thought to have particularly good information.

 (In the old days, before the implementation of Regulation Fair Disclosure, companies used to manage the market's expectations by telling trusted analysts to change their estimates. Reg FD banned that practice.)

 The fact that some potential Facebook investors were told of the analysts' estimate cuts and others were not would seem to be a major "selective dissemination" issue.

 It is inconceivable that a reasonable investor would consider the sudden reduction of the underwriter analysts' estimates to be immaterial to an investment decision.

 The SEC and FINRA appear to have acknowledged this, and they may now investigate what happened.

 More broadly, everyone is still trying to understand what happened with the pricing of the IPO, which was hyped up to be the offering of the century. We now have some more information on that.

 Given the PR and legal disaster that the Facebook IPO is rapidly becoming, most official communications channels have gone silent. Facebook declined to comment. Morgan Stanley did not return a call and email seeking comment.

 We have spoken to several sources familiar with aspects of the transaction. We do not have complete details yet, but a general picture of what happened is starting to take shape. For now, please regard most of the information below as scuttlebutt, as it has not yet been confirmed.

 The story we are hearing is this...

 THE FACEBOOK IPO

 WATCH: How Low Will FB Stock Go?

 In early May, as Facebook prepared to kick off its IPO roadshow, the research analysts at the company's lead underwriters developed financial forecasts to facilitate the marketing and pricing of the IPO.

 Such estimates are usually developed through close collaboration between the underwriters' research analysts and company management. These estimates are viewed by sophisticated investors as having been "blessed" by the company: They are perceived as revenue and earnings targets that the company has reviewed and is confident it will hit. Sophisticated investors use these estimates when they are developing "bids" for the stock, as a tool with which to help determine the price they are willing to pay.

 Importantly, these estimates are not published anywhere.

 Rather, in conjunction with industry convention (see below*), these estimates are conveyed verbally to institutional investors who are considering investing in the IPO.

 (This is an absurd and unfair practice. The estimates themselves are material information--the consensus of smart, well-trained analysts who have worked with the company's management to develop realistic forecasts. Most investors don't even know that these estimates exist, let alone that they're whispered verbally to only a handful of big investors. All potential investors should have easy access to these estimates, as well as to any logic underlying them. The SEC needs to change the rules here.)

 The same development and dissemination of estimates also happened with Facebook.

 As the Facebook roadshow began, institutional investors who were considering investing in the stock were verbally given the underwriters' initial estimates for the company. And, initially, there was a lot of institutional enthusiasm for the stock.

 Several days later, however, on May 9th, Facebook filed an amended IPO prospectus with the SEC.

 This prospectus contained new disclosure language that had not previously appeared in Facebook's SEC filings. The language was on page 57 of the prospectus, in a section discussing the company's recent financial and user trends:

 Based upon our experience in the second quarter of 2012 to date, the trend we saw in the first quarter of DAUs increasing more rapidly than the increase in number of ads delivered has continued. We believe this trend is driven in part by increased usage of Facebook on mobile devices where we have only recently begun showing an immaterial number of sponsored stories in News Feed, and in part due to certain pages having fewer ads per page as a result of product decisions.

 The appearance of this language unnerved some sophisticated investors and analysts, who took it as a sign that Facebook's business might have deteriorated. The language was vague, however, and it did not make clear that Facebook's second quarter was weaker than expected. (To infer that message from the language, you had to know that Facebook's first quarter had been weak--and that the cause had been the divergence between user growth and revenue growth.)

 Soon after Facebook amended its prospectus, all three analysts at the company's lead underwriters—Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, and Goldman Sachs—cut their estimates for Facebook's Q2 and the full year.

 These estimate cuts were conveyed verbally to sophisticated institutional investors.

 And, not surprisingly, these investors viewed the estimate cuts as a startling and negative development.

 One important question, of course, was why all three underwriter analysts cut their estimates.

 Had they all read the new sentence in the prospectus above and realized that the second quarter was weak? Or had they been tipped off?

 It seemed inconceivable that all three analysts could have read the language above and concluded independently that Facebook's Q2 was weak and therefore decided to take the highly unusual step of cutting estimates in the middle of a company's IPO roadshow.

 More likely, it seemed, someone had directed the analysts to cut their estimates—most likely someone with inside knowledge of how Facebook's Q2 was progressing.

 And we have now heard from one source that that is what happened.

 One of the underwriter's analysts has said he was told by a Facebook financial executive to cut his estimates.

 According to another source with insight into the Facebook IPO process, until the underwriters' analysts cut their estimates, demand for Facebook's stock among sophisticated institutional investors was high. Once these investors heard about the estimate cut, however, they became more cautious about the IPO.

 (Again, an estimate cut like this during a roadshow would be hard to interpret as anything but negative. One institutional investor I spoke to said he has looked at more than 1,200 IPOs over the course of his career, and he has never heard of this before. This is especially true because the underwriter estimates aren't really "estimates"--they're more like company guidance.)

 The estimate cut, moreover, was followed by three additional pieces of information that were interpreted negatively by some institutional investors:

 1) The price range for the deal was increased, which made the deal even less attractive in light of the estimate cut,

 2) The size of the deal was increased, which meant that more stock would be sold, and

 3) Many smart institutional Facebook shareholders like Goldman Sachs decided to sell more stock on the deal—the "smart money," in other words, was cashing out.

 Meanwhile, during private roadshow meetings, Facebook executives were reportedly "signalling" to some sophisticated investors that Facebook's advertising revenue would not grow as rapidly as some potential investors had hoped. Facebook's advertising business is driven primarily by company-to-company sales efforts, not by the self-serve ads that drive Google's business. Facebook executives reportedly made clear to sophisticated investors that this would limit the rate at which Facebook's ad business could grow.

 By the second week of the roadshow, after the estimate cut and price increase, some institutional investors became more cautious about the IPO. According to one investor who looked at the deal, institutions "got the willies" and started to talk about paring back their stock orders.

 Meanwhile, out in the real world, demand for Facebook stock was hitting a fever pitch. One senior stockbroker at a major brokerage firm reported that he "had never seen such demand" for an IPO.

 These individual investors, needless to say, were not likely aware that the research analysts at the company's lead underwriters had cut their estimates for the company. They were also, presumably, unaware that Facebook's Q2 was weaker than expected.

 At the end of last week, the time came to decide on the IPO price for Facebook's stock.

 This process was handled by Facebook's lead underwriter, Morgan Stanley, and Facebook executives.

 According to one source (unconfirmed--this really is just scuttlebutt), based on the book of orders submitted by both institutional and retail investors, Morgan Stanley found that there were two distinct price levels at which investors were interested in buying stock.

 Institutional investors, having digested the news of the underwriter estimate cut, were comfortable buying Facebook stock at $32 a share.

 Retail investors, meanwhile, who were presumably unaware of the estimate cut, were comfortable buying Facebook at $40 a share.

 Knowing that a big percentage of the IPO stock could be sold to retail investors instead of institutional investors, Facebook and Morgan Stanley decided to price the IPO at $38.

 Although the precise allocations could not be learned, a source says that Morgan Stanley allocated a far larger percentage of the Facebook deal to individual investors than is normally the case in an IPO like this.

 On Friday, May 18th, Facebook's stock opened at $42. It spent most of the day above $40, giving short-term traders a chance to flip for a quick gain, and then sank quickly. With heavy support from Morgan Stanley, the stock closed on Friday at just above the IPO price.

 Given the amount of stock that had been sold, Morgan Stanley could not support Facebook's stock price indefinitely without exposing itself to huge losses. In two trading days this week, as the IPO hype wore off and news of the analyst-estimate cut spread, Facebook's stock plummeted.

 The stock closed today at just over $31 a share, about the price that institutional investors were reportedly comfortable paying for it.

 The SEC and FINRA have already said they may look into the Facebook IPO process. The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth has also just announced that has subpoenaed Morgan Stanley over the issue.

 So, at some point soon, we will likely get the full story.

 In the meantime, it's hard to conclude anything other than this:

 In one of the biggest IPOs in history, in which a huge amount of stock was sold to small investors, privileged Wall Street insiders once again got top-notch information...and individuals got the shaft.

 UPDATE: Reuters' reporters Poornima Gupta and Alexei Oreskovic have uncovered the before-and-after Facebook estimates that were verbally conveyed to big investors (below). As you can see, both sets of numbers are carefully coordinated across the firms. There is no way that the estimates would be this close without explicit direction from Facebook. There is also no way that an investor could get this information from Facebook's IPO prospectus. These disclosure rules need to be changed...

 Here are the detailed figures from the four banks, according to one of the investors who received the new numbers.

 Lowered full year revenue estimate for 2012

 Morgan Stanley -- $4.854 bln (new)from $5.036 bln (old)

 Bank of America -- $4.815 bln (new) from $5.040 bln (old)

 JPMorgan -- $4.839 bln (new) from $5.044 bln (old)

 Goldman Sachs -- $4.852 bln (new) from $5.169 bln (old)

 Lowered estimates for second-quarter 2012

 Morgan Stanley -- $1.111 bln (new) from $1.175 bln (old)

 Bank of America -- $1.100 bln (new) from $1.166 bln (old)

 JPMorgan -- $1.096 bln (new) from $1.182 bln (old)

 Goldman Sachs -- $1.125 bln (new) from $ 1.207 bln (old)

 Lowered 2013 Earnings per share estimate

 Morgan Stanley -- 83 cents (new) from 88 cents

 Bank of America -- 64 cents (new) from 66 cents

 JPMorgan -- 66 cents (new) from 70 cents

 Goldman Sachs -- 63 cents (new) from 68 cents

 SEE ALSO: BOMBSHELL: Facebook Bankers Secretly Cut Estimates In Middle Of IPO Roadshow

 * Several readers have asked why underwriters are allowed to verbally disseminate analyst estimates to big clients. This is an excellent question. The short answer is that they shouldn't be allowed to: It's very unfair to anyone who doesn't happen to be a big client.

 The reason this rule developed, ironically, was to protect small investors from sleazy brokerage firms that might hire analysts to publish puffed-up estimates only to sell a deal. Big investors, the thinking went, were grown-up enough to be able to evaluate the estimates for themselves, whereas smaller investors weren't.

 The Law of Unintended Consequences then led to the current situation, which is worse: Institutions get highly material estimates shaped by the company. Small investors don't. |||||


– CNN is taking heat after a host assumed a teen spelling bee champ of Indian descent was "used to using" Sanskrit. The Washington Post reports the exchange occurred on the network's "New Day" program following 12-year-old Ananya Vinay's victory at Thursday night's 90th annual Scripps Howard Spelling Bee. After asking Ananya to spell "covfefe," hosts Alisyn Camerota and Chris Cuomo joked that President Trump's "nonsense word" has dubious origins. "We’re not sure that its root is actually in Sanskrit, which is what you’re probably, uh, used to using," Camerota told Ananya, who was born and raised in Fresno, Calif. Criticism that Camerota's quip was insensitive and "racist" swept social media. "If she were Jewish would you say 'your real language is Hebrew?'" one woman tweeted. "Are you serious @CNN?" tweeted another. "That's some straight racism there." Sandip Roy writes in Huffington Post India that while "there's nothing wrong with Ananya Vinay being used to" the ancient language of the Hindu scriptures, "the presumption that (Ananya) must be familiar with her Sanskrit just reeks of the assumption that she is still more Indian than American." He compares it to Camerota being asked if "she was probably used to Latin." CNN dismissed the dust-up, per HuffPo, calling the segment "fun and innocent" and noting that Camerota was following up an earlier joke about "covfefe's" roots. "If she's guilty of anything it's recycling a joke," the network said. (Ananya nailed her bee win with this word. Meanwhile, Americans find these words vexing.)

Expand this summary.

A CNN anchor became the target of rebuke for assuming that the 2017 national spelling champion, a California resident who’s of South Asian descent, is “used to using” Sanskrit.

 Alisyn Camerota and Chris Cuomo were talking to 12-year-old Ananya Vinay on “New Day” after Ananya’s Thursday victory at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Toward the end of the interview — and after several awkward seconds of asking the sixth-grader to spell “covfefe” — Camerota joked about the origin of the gibberish that President Trump conjured on Twitter last week.

 “It’s a nonsense word. So, we’re not sure that its root is actually in Sanskrit, which is what you’re probably, uh, used to using, so, I don’t know. Anyway,” Camerota said.

 Vinay, an Indian American, is from Fresno, Calif.

 [By correctly spelling ‘marocain,’ California girl becomes bee queen]

 Criticism of Camerota’s comment has since been circulating on social media. Many said her comment was racist, while others were simply in disbelief that the CNN anchor had made such an assumption. Here’s a sampling of the reactions:

 CNN guesses the U.S. national spelling bee winner is 'used to using' Sanskrit. If she were Jewish would u say 'your real language Hebrew' ? https://t.co/x4EDTNE6fh — Susan Benesch (@SusanBenesch) June 4, 2017

 12-year-old Ananya Vinay won the National Spelling Bee so naturally CNN had her on to spell "covfefe" and say some racist stuff to her. pic.twitter.com/Qirb8CpBV9 — Jeremy McLellan (@JeremyMcLellan) June 3, 2017

 CNN anchor assumes spelling bee champ, who happens to be of Indian descent, uses Sanskrit to find the origin of a word. Watch: https://t.co/LIPkEGozVF — Asha Dahya (@Ashadahya) June 4, 2017

 "in sanskrit, which is what you're probably used to using"? Really, @CNN this is what you say to the kid who won the English spelling bee?! https://t.co/fU76nHdUyc — Maya Mirchandani (@maya206) June 4, 2017

 A CNN spokeswoman said Camoreta’s comment had nothing to do with the girl’s heritage, and the interview was not the first time the anchor joked about Sanskrit being the origin of “covfefe.”

 “Alisyn made the same joking reference to the root of ‘covfefe’ in an earlier panel discussion that aired Wednesday. If she’s guilty of anything it’s recycling a joke. To assign a bias to what was a fun and innocent segment celebrating Ananya Vinay’s incredible accomplishment is frankly extremely cynical,” the spokesperson said in a statement, referring to a transcript of the Wednesday segment.

 [Bill Maher says he is ‘very sorry’ for using a racial slur on his HBO show]

 Sanskrit, an ancient language closely associated with Hinduism, is rarely spoken today and is generally used by Hindu priests during religious ceremonies. But activists and Hindu nationalists in India still push for the language to be more widely taught in schools. Government officials in India’s northeastern state of Assam announced this year that Sanskrit would be mandatory in public high schools, the New York Times reported. The decision was met with strong resistance from student groups, which argued that other topics are more relevant and that few teachers are equipped to teach the ancient language.

 Twelve-year-old Ananya Vinay of Fresno, California won the Scripps National Spelling Bee on June 1. The sixth-grader correctly spelled the word "marocain." (Reuters)

 The 4½-minute interview with Vinay began with Camerota and Cuomo praising the 12-year-old for her spelling prowess and asking her what it was like to win. Standing in front of a camera next to her trophy, a smiling Vinay talked about how she prepared for the competition.

 “I study, like, a couple of hours a day for the whole year, and I just try to figure out language patterns and … root words so I can see if I could come up with a spelling that makes sense,” said Vinay, who was the first Scripps National Spelling Bee solo champion in years.

 Did she really just say Sanskrit? Folks out here extra comfortable saying any ole thing. pic.twitter.com/MGaQNML04S — deray mckesson (@deray) June 4, 2017

 Then came the challenge.

 Camerota and Cuomo asked Vinay to spell “covfefe.” As she did at spelling competitions, the 12-year-old asked for the word’s definition.

 “Definition is a nonsense word made up by the 45th president of the United States in a late-night tweet,” Camerota said.

 Vinay, smiling, didn’t spell the “word” right away. Here’s the rest of the exchange:

 Vinay: Language of origin? Camerota and Cuomo: Gibberish. Vinay: Part of speech? Camerota: It’s a noun. Cuomo: It could be a noun but may be used as a verb and as an insult. Vinay: Are there alternate pronunciations? Camerota: Yes, oh, many! (Then she goes on to pronounce “covfefe” a few different ways.)

 Finally, Vinay spelled: c-o-f-e-f-e. To which Cuomo said, “Good enough!” Camerota then went on to spell the gibberish the way Trump wrote it a few days ago — then joked about its origin.

 .@CNN An Indian-American who wins the national spelling bee is not used to seeing Sanskrit just because she's an Indian. — Varsha Venkat…. (@varshaoforange) June 4, 2017

 After making the comment about Sanskrit, Camerota turned to Cuomo, who wrapped up the interview by praising Vinay’s performance at the spelling competition.

 “You did a great job. You know what I love about this?” Cuomo said. “Not only did you make yourself proud and your family, but do you know that there are kids all over the country, probably the world, who are going to look at you and say, ‘I want to put in that work. I want to be a champion. I want to spell like her.’”

 Then Camerota said, “You are an inspiration to us … Thank you so much and congratulations again.”

 Sarah Larimer contributed to this report.

 1 of 59 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Photos from the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee View Photos More than 290 students are competing for the title of spelling-bee champion at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Maryland’s National Harbor. Caption More than 290 students are competing for the title of spelling-bee champion at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Maryland’s National Harbor. June 1, 2017 Ananya Vinay, 12, from Fresno, Calif., standing with her mother, holds her trophy after being declared the winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.

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 Trump’s tweeted typo covfefe becoming vanity license plates ||||| Yes, another Indian-American girl, 12-year-old Ananya Vinay won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the US. That's not news anymore.

 She just follows in the footsteps of the likes of Gokul Venkatachalam, Vanya Shivshankar, her sister Kavya Shivshankar, Shriram Hathwar, his brother Jairam Hathwar, Sukanya Roy, Anamika Veeramani, Pratyush Buddiga, Nupur Lala.

 Even the stories of "why do desis win spelling bees?" are not news. They have been written over and over again.

 In a world where terror attacks rock Kabul and London (and of course one makes for banner headlines even in India and the other is a just another day in a war-torn part of the world) the spelling bee in America seems insignificant.

 But Ananya Vinay's victory made news outside the spelling beehive for a different reason--a cringe-worthy CNN interview.

 CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota and Chris Cuomo ask her to spell "covfefe", the Trump typo that was ruling the internet. She plays along and gives it a game attempt. Then Camerota tells her it was a "nonsense word" anyway.

 And then she brightly says, "But we're not sure that its root is in Sanskrit which is probably what you are used to."

 CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota.

 The Internet has come down hard on Camerota. How would she react if someone told her she was probably used to Latin?

 A CNN spokesperson dismissed charges of racism and bias.

 "Alisyn made the same joking reference to the root of 'covfefe' in an earlier panel discussion that aired Wednesday. If she's guilty of anything it's recycling a joke. To assign a bias to what was a fun and innocent segment celebrating Ananya Vinay's incredible accomplishment is frankly extremely cynical," says CNN.

 Perhaps so.

 We do not always have to be so sensitive and thin-skinned and bristle about racism at the drop of a hat or a recycled joke. And let's give her some credit. She knows which part of the world Sanskrit is from.

 The issue is not what Camerota intended. The problem is the way it came across. And that was neither "fun" nor "innocent" the way CNN portrays it. A 12-year-old girl was savouring her moment of hard-won victory. There was no need to inject Donald Trump snark into it.

 The issue is not what Camerota intended. The problem is the way it came across.

 The problem is not that she jokes that the origins of covfefe might be Sanskrit. The problem is the fact that she said Sanskrit is "probably what you are used to". CNN sidesteps that distinction.

 The former just shows simple ignorance. It also betrays a certain presumption that a gibberish word must be put into the basket of something far-out exotic like Sanskrit. But the "probably what you are used to" is a presumption about the other.

 There's nothing wrong with Ananya Vinay being used to Sanskrit. If she was it would be commendable. But the presumption that Vinay must be familiar with her Sanskrit just reeks of the assumption that she is still more Indian than American even if she was born in Fresno, California. (Of course most Indians in India are not that familiar with Sanskrit but that's another story.)

 Let's face it. If she had been asking Trump the same question, would she have asked if the word had its roots in old German, because of course he must be familiar with German given his grandfather's Bavarian roots? Trump is unquestionably Americanised in a way Vinay is not.

 Ananya Vinay of Fresno, California celebrates with family after winning the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S., June 1, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

 It's a variation of the old origin question, that brown people routinely face in America.

 Where are you from?

 San Francisco.

 No, where are you REALLY from?

 Arre baba, San Bernardino, Southern California.

 It may not be asked with any hostile intent, just simple curiosity, but it does get old especially when you are third generation American. "It feels like someone is trying to point out their otherness: 'You're quite obviously not American, so where are you from?'" says Michele Norris, host of The Race Card Project.

 This can seem trivial especially in America today where an overt racism seems to have acquired political license. And the bullies claim presidential blessing. Matthew Heimbach, a 26-year-old white nationalist says he shoved a black woman at a Donald Trump rally because he was acting "pursuant to the directives and requests" of Trump. Since Trump exhorted the crows to "knock the c*** out of" protesters and promised to pay their legal fees, Heimbach claims charges levied against him "must be shifted" to the President.

 In a world where a man with grouse against Middle Easterners in general shoots an Indian engineer in Kansas City, a blonde television show host making a bad joke about Sanskrit with a little Indian-American girl is probably fairly benign on the Richter scale of racism.

 It's easy to call out racism that's angry and tells you to go back to your own country.

 Yet it is annoying because it is symptomatic of a kind of patronising white liberalism that seems accommodating of 'the other' but in the end never accepts the other as one of them. It's just a joke just as chilled monkey brains in Indiana Jones was a joke, not to taken too seriously. But it leaves an aftertaste. As Sabrina Dhawan who wrote the screenplay for Monsoon Wedding in 2002 and now Monsoon Wedding the musical in 2017 says, a decade of multiculturalism has not changed one basic fact. Everything is still judged by how the "white housewife in Idaho" will react. In the movie, the groom was an Indian immigrant. In the musical he is an Indian-American. It's an important point that could be lost in the song and dance and marigold showers on stage--the Americans in the play are brown. "Being American does not mean looking white. They are Americans. They have been here 30 years," she says.

 It's a point that needs to be made over and over again and a spelling bee is as good place to drive it home as any.

 It's easy to call out racism that's angry and tells you to go back to your own country. It's much trickier when it comes with a patronising smile but still assumes that you are really, in some essential way, from another country.

 But both in the end make the Ananya Vinays of America very firmly 'the other'.

 Also On HuffPost: |||||


Article:
Billy Joel Marries Alexis Roderick in Surprise Wedding at His Estate

 Surprise! Billy Joel and Alexis Roderick got married on Saturday evening.The couple "surprised guests at their annual July 4th party by exchanging vows in front of their family and close friends," the singer's spokeswoman said in a statement to PEOPLE.The intimate ceremony, which was held at Joel's sprawling estate on Long Island, was presided over by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo , 57, a longtime friend.Joel's daughter, singer/songwriter Alexa Ray , 29, and actor Kevin James , 50, were part of the small group of loved ones at the beautiful nuptials.The singer, 66, and Roderick, 33 – an accomplished equestrian and a former Morgan Stanley executive – have been together since 2009 and are expecting their first child , a little girl, this summer."Billy is thrilled to become a dad again," a source told PEOPLE in April.The music legend is currently on tour , with his next sold-out stop at Boston's Fenway Park on July 16. ||||| Billy Joel turned a Fourth of July party into a surprise wedding Saturday, marrying pregnant girlfriend Alexis Roderick at his sprawling Long Island estate.

 The ceremony was presided over by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a longtime friend of the singer-songwriter, People magazine reported.

 Joel, 66, and Roderick, 33, are expecting their first child, a girl, later this summer. They have been together since 2009.

 “Billy is thrilled to become a dad again,” a source told People.

 Joel’s daughter, Alexa Ray, 29, was at the intimate gathering.

 Her mother, Christie Brinkley, posted a photo of the newly married couple on Instagram above the caption, “Congratulations to the glowing bride and groom.”

 It’s Joel’s fourth marriage. |||||Summary:

– Billy Joel wed longtime girlfriend Alexis Roderick yesterday, turning the couple's annual Fourth of July party at the Piano Man's Long Island estate into a surprise wedding, reports People. The couple, 66 and 33 and together since 2009, are expecting a baby daughter this summer. Joel's 29-year-old daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, was on hand, as was her mom, Christie Brinkley, notes Page Six, who's famously on good terms with her ex. Brinkley Instagrammed a photo of the newlyweds, " wishing the growing family every happiness!" New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo officiated.


Write a summary based on this article:

Twin car bombs struck intelligence and security buildings in the Syrian capital on Saturday, killing at least 27 people and wounding nearly 100, according to state media.

 In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian security officers investigate a damaged building of the air intelligence forces, which was attacked by one of two explosions, in... (Associated Press)

 In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian army soldiers and security officers inspect the blast area in front of a damaged building of the air intelligence forces, which was... (Associated Press)

 State TV, citing the health minister, said the death toll could rise. Gruesome images of the scene were aired, with mangled and charred corpses, bloodstained streets and twisted steel.

 "All our windows and doors are blown out," said Majed Seibiyah, 29, who lives in the area. "I was sleeping when I heard a sound like an earthquake. I didn't grasp what was happening until I hear screaming in the street."

 The blasts were the latest in a string of mysterious, large-scale attacks targeting the Syrian regime's military and security installations. The previous blasts, all suicide bombings, killed dozens of people since December, even as the regime wages a bloody crackdown against the year-old uprising against President Bashar Assad.

 The government has blamed the explosions on the "terrorists" that it claims are behind the revolt. The opposition has denied any role, saying they believe forces loyal to the government are behind the bombings to tarnish the uprising.

 But top U.S. intelligence officials also have pointed to al-Qaida in Iraq as the likely culprit behind the previous bombings, raising the possibility its fighters are infiltrating across the border to take advantage of the turmoil.

 Al-Qaida's leader called for Assad's ouster in February.

 A suspected al-Qaida presence creates new obstacles for the U.S., its Western allies and Arab states trying to figure out a way to help push Assad from power, and may also rally Syrian religious minorities, fearful of Sunni radicalism, to get behind the regime.

 Bassma Kodmani, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council, said she doubted armed groups trying to bring Assad down by force, such as the rebel Free Syrian Army, have the capacity to carry out such attacks on security institutions in the capital.

 "I don't think any of the opposition forces or the free Syrian army has the capacity to do such an operation to target these buildings because they are fortresses," she said by telephone. "They are very well guarded. There is no way anyone can penetrate them without having strong support and complicity from inside the security apparatus."

 According to SANA, preliminary information indicated two blasts were caused by car bombs that hit the aviation intelligence department and the criminal security department at 7:30 a.m local time. Shooting broke out soon after the blast and sent residents and others who had gathered in the area fleeing, an Associated Press reporter at the scene said.

 A Syrian official also said there were reports of a third blast Saturday targeting a military bus at the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, but there were no details. He asked that his name not be used because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

 The Syrian government denies there is a popular will behind the uprising, saying foreign extremists and gangs are trying to destroy the country. But his opponents deny that and say an increasingly active rebel force has been driven to take up arms because the government used tanks, snipers and machine guns to crush peaceful protests.

 The U.N. estimates that more that 8,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad began last March.

 The last major suicide bombing in Syria happened on Feb. 10, when twin blasts struck security compounds in the government stronghold of Aleppo in northern Syria, killing 28 people. Damascus, another Assad stronghold, has seen three suicide previous bombings since December.

 In recent weeks, Syrian forces have waged a series of heavy offensives against the main strongholds of the opposition _ Homs in central Syria, Idlib in the north and Daraa in the south.

 The bloodshed fuels the country's sectarian tensions. The military's top leadership is stacked heavily with members of the minority Alawite sect, to which Assad and the ruling elite belong.

 Sunnis are the majority in the country of 22 million and make up the backbone of the opposition.

 Diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis have so far brought no result. But U.N. envoy Kofi Annan told the Security Council in a briefing Friday that he would return to Damascus even though his recent talks with Assad saw no progress in attempts to cobble together peace negotiations between the two sides.

 After the confidential briefing via videolink, Annan told reporters in Geneva that he urged the council "to speak with one voice as we try to resolve the crisis in Syria." Russia and China have blocked U.N. action against Assad's regime.

 "The first objective is for all of us to end the violence and human rights abuses and the killings and get unimpeded access for humanitarian access to the needy, and of course the all-important issue of political process that will lead to a democratic Syria," Annan said.

 Both Assad and much of the opposition spurned Annan's appeal for talks.

 ___

 Associated Press writer Albert Aji contributed to this story from Damascus, Syria. ||||| At least 27 people have been killed and 97 others wounded in a pair of explosions in Damascus, the Syrian health minister has said.

 State television blamed "terrorists" for the Saturday morning explosions and reported that vehicles packed with explosives had been used. The blasts targeted buildings belonging to a customs office and air force intelligence.

 Most of the casualties were civilians, state television said. The channel broadcast interviews with Syrians who blamed the attack on the United States and Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who they said had sent terrorists.

 The attacks come two days after the one-year anniversary of the start of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

 "I woke up to two massive explosions around 7:30 this morning - one was on Baghdad street less than a mile away from my home," a witness in Damascus told Al Jazeera. "Relatives closer to the explosion told me their windows were blown out and doors destroyed from the blast."

 Bassma Kodmani, a Paris-based member of the opposition Syrian National Council, said she doubted the armed groups trying to bring Assad down by force have the capacity to carry out such attacks on security institutions in the capital.

 "I don't think any of the opposition forces or the Free Syrian Army has the capacity to do such an operation to target these buildings because they are fortresses,'' she said. "They are very well guarded. There is no way anyone can penetrate them without having strong support and complicity from inside the security apparatus."

 State-run news agency SANA said a third blast went off near a military bus at the Palestinian refugee camp Yarmouk in Damascus later in the day, killing the two suicide bombers.

 No claim of responsibility

 It was not the first time bombers have struck in Damascus, the heart of Assad's power base. There were three alleged suicide bombings in the capital between December and January, which the government blamed on al-Qaeda.

 "A few weeks ago, we saw security buildings also come under attack [in Aleppo] and the government has been blaming what they are calling 'terrorist groups'," said Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut.

 She said no one had claimed responsibility for Saturday's attacks but that the opposition has in the past blamed the government for "orchestrating" them to bolster its case against alleged terrorists.

 "But we also have to remember that US officials have hinted in the past that they believe that al-Qaeda could be involved, could be taking advantage of the security vacuum in that country," Khodr said.

 The spectre of al-Qaeda could make Syria's minority populations more nervous about the Sunni-led uprising against Assad, whose government has sought to rally Alawite, Christian and Shia communities to its side.

 One of Saturday's blasts happened in al-Qassaa, a predominantly Christian area.

 International condemnation

 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the bomb blasts and called for an immediate end to the violence.

 "Mr Ban extended his sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and the people of Syria," a statement from the secretary-general's office said.

 Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, said: "France condemns all acts of terrorism, which cannot be justified under any circumstances."

 France has been at the forefront of calls for Assad to quit.

 Mohammed Kamel Amr, Egypt's foreign minister, affirmed Cairo's "fixed position against terrorism in any form, regardless of the reasons behind it".

 Meanwhile, the Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), an opposition activist network, said 22 people were killed across the country on Saturday, including eight in the northwestern city of al-Raqqa where security forces reportedly opened fire on a funeral march.

 Al-Raqqa saw a rare mass rally against Assad on Friday and activists said several people were killed by gunfire.

 Clashes between the military and army defectors were also reported in the city on Saturday. The LCC said security forces had besieged the hospital that admitted most of the injured. |||||

– Two car bombs rocked Damascus this morning around 7:30 local time, killing civilians and security forces, report al-Jazeera and AP. State media reports 27 dead and more than 100 injured. One bomb hit the criminal security department and the other the aviation intelligence department. The usual blame game unfolded: The government said the explosions were the work of terrorists, but rebel groups said the bombs were the work of the government, done to discredit the opposition. The explosions followed renewed fighting around the capital yesterday, as violence returned to the Damascus suburbs for the first time since early February, according to the AP. The Syrian government had been reporting it was on the verge of crushing the rebels, but the new fighting shows its struggles to conduct offensives in more than one area at a time. "Every time the regime controls a specific area we witness clashes in new regions," said one activist. Syria's foreign minister, meanwhile, sent a letter to the UN Security Council yesterday saying the crackdown would continue.