02/05/2018 | UPONSOFT

Venezuela Announces 99.6 Percent Devaluation of Official Forex Rate

By Uponbiz | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Business

Venezuela’s central bank on Monday announced a devaluation of more than 99 percent of its official exchange rate with a new foreign exchange platform.

The central bank said the first auction of its new DICOM system yielded an exchange rate of 30,987.5 bolivars per euro, equivalent to around 25,000 per dollar.

That is a devaluation of 86.6 percent with respect to the previous DICOM rate and 99.6 percent from the subsidized rate of 10 bolivars per dollar, which was eliminated last week.

The new rate is still dwarfed by the black market rate for greenbacks, currently at 228,000 bolivars per dollar according to website DolarToday, which is used as a reference.

Venezuela is undergoing a major crisis, with quadruple-digit inflation and shortages of food and medicine. Economists consistently describe the 15-year-old currency control system as the principal obstacle to functioning commerce and industry.

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With New Trailer, ‘Solo’ Hopes to Outrun Production Troubles

By Uponent | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Entertainment

The first trailer of Solo: A Star Wars Story has finally arrived, offering a glimpse of the much-anticipated spinoff plagued by production troubles.

After a 45-second ad for the latest Star Wars film played during Sunday’s Super Bowl, a 90-second teaser trailer premiered Monday on Good Morning, America. The footage showcased a gritty prequel featuring the snazzy interior of a then-new Millennium Falcon, the familiar growl of Chewbacca and a plethora of handsome fur coats.

Though punctuated by the brashness of Alden Ehrenreich’s young Han Solo, the vibe of the trailer is a little chiller than was once forecast for Solo. The initial directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street) are known for their irreverent sense of humor, something that first excited many Star Wars fans when the pair was enlisted for the stand-alone installment.

But Lord and Miller were removed from the film six months into production over what Lucasfilm said were “different creative visions” on the film. Ron Howard was brought in as a replacement in July, and shooting concluded in October.

The trailer for the film, to be released May 25, seemed intent on assuring fans that Solo will be a more typically somber chapter in the science-fiction franchise. Young Solo is shown as an ambitious flyboy who drops out of the fight academy and enlists with a rogue band led by Woody Harrelson’s Tobias Beckett.

“I’ve been running scams on the street since I was 10,” Solo says in voice-over. “I was kicked out of the fly academy for having a mind of my own. I’m going to be a pilot — best in the galaxy.”

Concerns have also been focused on Ehrenreich, who has the unenviable position of following in Harrison Ford’s footsteps in one of the most iconic roles in movies. Before booking the role, Ehrenreich starred in Joel and Ethan Coen’s Hail, Caesar! and Warren Beatty’s Rules Don’t Apply, but The Hollywood Reporter earlier reported that an acting coach was brought in late in the production to aid the actor’s performance.

Instead of focusing solely on Solo, Monday’s trailer promoted the film’s larger ensemble, including Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, Emilia Clarke and Thandie Newton.
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UN: US Tax Overhaul May Drain $2 Trillion From Foreign Projects

By Uponbiz | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Business

U.S. President Donald Trump’s tax reform could bring almost $2 trillion back to the United States as U.S. firms repatriate cash piles from foreign affiliates, a U.N. report said Monday.

Ending the incentive to hoard cash overseas could produce a stimulus effect in the United States, and Trump has credited the tax reform with spurring a $350 billion investment plan by Apple.

“Now is the perfect time to bring your business, your jobs, and your investments to the United States of America,” Trump told the World Economic Forum in Davos last month.

The reform ends a system whereby companies defer tax on foreign earnings until the funds are repatriated. Instead it treats those earnings as if they were being repatriated, with an 8 percent tax on non-cash assets and a 15.5 percent tax on cash.

“This measure is widely expected to have the most significant and immediate effect on global investment patterns,” said the report by the U.N. trade and development agency UNCTAD.

Big firms had long awaited such a tax break, having last received one in the 2005 U.S. Homeland Investment Act, which brought $300 billion back from abroad, the report said.

Since then, U.S. overseas retained earnings have grown to $3.2 trillion, half of U.S.-owned foreign direct investment, with about $2 trillion in cash. Unlike in 2005, companies are not required to actually repatriate the funds.

The biggest overseas cash hoarders are in the tech sector, with Apple, Microsoft, Cisco, Alphabet and Oracle holding $530 billion, a quarter of the total, the report said. Other major cash holders are in pharmaceuticals and engineering.

Almost 40 percent of the funds are located in the United Kingdom or its Caribbean offshore territories such as the British Virgin Islands, UNCTAD said, citing data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Even if the money was not invested in tangible assets, its withdrawal could still have a macroeconomic impact, said Richard Bolwijn, UNCTAD’s head of investment research.

“It’s still a part of … the external sources of finance helping to make up for savings shortfalls in developing countries,” he said.

Much of the impact depends on how other countries react, and there is still uncertainty as the details of the tax bill are clarified. In addition, there are some concerns that the U.S. reforms could violate tax treaties and trade rules, the UNCTAD report said.
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BMI to Honor Luis Fonsi for ‘Despacito,’ Other Career Hits

By Uponent | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Entertainment

The annual BMI Latin Awards will honor Luis Fonsi not only for his mega smash “Despacito” but for the string of hits he’s racked up over two decades.

Fonsi is to receive the BMI President’s Award on March 20 in Beverly Hills, California.

BMI says it is honoring Fonsi for being one of the “most influential” Latin music songwriters and also for his humanitarian work. The Puerto Rican singer was involved with helping the island after last year’s devastating hurricane.

“Despacito” was recently nominated for record and song of the year at the Grammys; it features Daddy Yankee, and Justin Bieber on the remix.
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Wall St. Plunges, Dow Erases 2018’s Gains

By Uponbiz | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Business

U.S. stocks plunged in highly volatile trading on Monday, with both the S&P 500 and Dow Industrials indices slumping more than 4.0 percent, as the Dow notched its biggest intraday decline in history with a nearly 1,600-point drop and Wall Street erased its gains for the year.

The declines for the benchmark S&P500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were the biggest single-day percentage drops since August 2011, a period of stock-market volatility marked by the downgrade of the United States’ credit rating and the eurozone debt crisis, as a pullback from record highs deepened.

The question now for investors, who have ridden a nearly nine-year bull run, is whether this is the long-awaited pullback that paves the way for stocks to again keep rising after finding some value, or the start of a decline that leads to a bear market.

“A lot of people who have been in this market for the past three or four years have never seen this before,” said Dennis Dick, a proprietary trader at Bright Trading LLC in Las Vegas.

“The psychology of the market changed today. It’ll take a while to get that psychology back.”

Bulls argue that strong U.S. corporate earnings, including a boost from the Trump administration’s tax cuts, will ultimately support market valuations. Bears, including short sellers that bet on the market decline, say that the market is over-stretched in the context of rising bond yields as central banks withdraw their easy money policies of recent years.

The U.S. stock market has climbed to record peaks since President Donald Trump’s election, on the prospect of tax cuts, corporate deregulation and infrastructure spending, and it remains up 23.8 percent since his victory. Trump has frequently taken credit for the rise of the stock market during his presidency, though the rally and economic recovery began during the Obama administration.

As the stock market fell on Monday, the White House said the fundamentals of the U.S. economy are strong. U.S. economic growth was running at a 2.6 annualized rate in the fourth quarter last year and the unemployment rate is at a 17-year low of 4.1 percent.

On Monday, the financial, health care and industrial sectors fell the most, but declines were spread broadly as all major 11 S&P sectors dropped at least 1.7 percent. All 30 of the blue-chip Dow industrial components finished negative.

With Monday’s declines, the S&P 500 erased its gains for 2018 and is now down 0.9 percent in 2018. The Dow is down 1.5 percent for the year.

The market’s pullback comes amid concerns about rising bond yields and higher inflation which were heightened following Friday’s January U.S. jobs report that also prompted worries that the Federal Reserve will raise rates at a faster pace than expected this year.

“The market has had an incredible run,” said Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist At JonesTrading In Greenwich, Connecticut.

“We have an environment where interest rates are rising. We have a stronger economy so the Fed should continue to tighten … You’re seeing real changes occur and different investments are adjusting to that,” O’Rourke said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,175.21 points, or 4.6 percent, to 24,345.75, the S&P 500 lost 113.19 points, or 4.10 percent, to 2,648.94 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 273.42 points, or 3.78 percent, to 6,967.53.

The S&P 500 ended 7.8 percent down from its record high on Jan. 26, with the Dow down 8.5 percent over that time. The declines come after the Dow and S&P posted their biggest weekly percentage drops since January 2016, and the Nasdaq posted its biggest weekly drop since February 2016.

Even with the sharp declines, stocks finished above their lows touched during the session.

At one point, the Dow fell 6.3 percent or 1,597 points, the biggest one-day points loss ever, as it fell through both the 25,000 and 24,000 levels during trading. Traders speculated that the breaching of technical levels prompted a frenzy of automated selling.

“It doesn’t look like people are working their orders — the programs are trading this,” Dan Ryan, who works on the New York Stock Exchange floor for E&J Securities, said as he was leaving work for the day.

Investors also unloaded riskier corporate bonds during the Wall Street rout. Exchange-traded funds that focus on junk bonds suffered a third day of losses. BlackRock’s iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF, which has about $16 billion in assets, fell 0.6 percent to its lowest share price since December 2016.

The CBOE Volatility index, the closely followed measure of expected near-term stock market volatility, jumped 20 points to 30.71, its highest level since August 2015.

“One thing is that going into the last week or so, investor bullishness was in the top decile of its historical range, which suggests that investors were pretty optimistic, with high expectations and largely complacent,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer with Cresset Wealth Advisors in Chicago. “There’s kind of an emotional reversal that’s going on.”

About 11.5 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, well above the 7.6 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 8.64-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 6.92-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 1 new 52-week highs and 38 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 17 new highs and 164 new lows.
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UN: Nepal Must Punish Recruiters Who Exploit Migrant Workers

By Uponbiz | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Business

Nepal must punish recruitment agencies that charge migrant workers illegally high fees to find jobs abroad, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation, the United Nations said on Monday.

Remittances sent home by about 4 million Nepalis, mainly working in construction or as domestic servants in the Middle East, Malaysia and South Korea, make up nearly 30 percent of the Himalayan nation’s gross domestic product, state officials say.

Rights groups such as Amnesty International say poor migrants become trapped in a cycle of debt and exploitation as they have to borrow large sums of money at high interest rates to pay recruitment agencies who arrange jobs for them overseas.

Once abroad, migrant workers often have their passports confiscated and find themselves trapped in forced labor – having to work for years to clear their debts – activists say.

The Nepali government allows private recruitment agencies to charge migrant workers a fee of $100 to process their papers, but a top U.N. official said the costs can be as high as $1,750.

The government should “revoke the licenses of recruitment agencies that charge fees to migrants … or have abused their human or labor rights,” said Felipe Gonzalez Morales, U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants.

“Licenses should be subject to regular renewal with compliance with human rights obligations,” he told a press conference in Kathmandu after a week-long visit to Nepal to meet state officials, rights groups, migrants and their families.

Nepal should sign legally binding bilateral agreements with destination countries to protect its overseas workers, who often do not receive or cannot understand their contracts, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, Morales added.

Yet Nepali authorities say recruitment agencies are being monitored, and that those charging illegal fees are punished.

Foreign Employment Department Director Mohan Adhikari said such penalties ranged from fines of $1,000 to revoking licenses.

“We are making all efforts to protect migrant workers and to ensure that they are not exploited,” Adhikari told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.

Nepal is working with India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to better protect the rights of overseas migrant workers, he added.

Wedged between China and India, Nepal is one of the poorest nations in South Asia and is recovering from a 2015 earthquake that killed 9,000 people and destroyed about one million homes.
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SpaceX ‘Starman’ at Wheel of Sports Car Flying on New Rocket

By Uponsci | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Science

A SpaceX “Starman” is aboard the company’s new rocket that’s set to make its launch debut from Florida

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk revealed pictures of the surprise passenger Monday. The figure is in the driver’s seat of Musk’s red Tesla Roadster, the cargo for Tuesday’s first test flight of the Falcon Heavy. The right hand is on the wheel while the left arm rests on the convertible’s door.

Starman, as Musk calls him, is wearing a white-and-black-trimmed spacesuit and helmet. It’s the same outfit real astronauts will wear when riding SpaceX rockets from Florida a year or so from now, bound for the International Space Station.

Musk, who also runs the electric car company Tesla, is sending his Roadster into a long solar orbit stretching out to Mars.

Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration officially licensed the flight from Kennedy Space Center. The Falcon Heavy, at liftoff, will be the world’s most powerful rocket currently in operation.

A David Bowie fan, Musk has promised via Twitter to have the car soundtrack playing “Space Oddity.” during liftoff. “Starman,” is the title of a Bowie song from 1972. That’s three years after the late rocker penned “Ground Control to Major Tom” for “Space Oddity.”

“There’s a Starman waiting in the sky,” goes Bowie’s “Starman.”

If the flight succeeds, Musk’s Starman should cruise around the sun for a billion years.
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ECB Experts: US Tax Law Could Erode Europe’s Tax Base

By Uponbiz | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Business

Economists at the European Central Bank say that the U.S. corporate tax cut should lift the world’s largest economy in the short term but warn it could erode the tax base in European countries by intensifying global competition for lower rates.

In a short article released Monday, the ECB’s economists say that the cut in business taxes will provide a “significant fiscal stimulus” to growth in the U.S. in the short term. It warned that long-term effects were less clear, especially if the cut leads to larger U.S. budget deficits.

Effects on the 19-country eurozone were “highly uncertain and complex” but could include an erosion of the tax base if countries around the world compete by lowering their tax rates to attract businesses.

“Lower U.S. corporate tax rates raise the tax attractiveness of the United States relative to other countries,” the report said. “Prior to the reform, the U.S. corporate tax rate stood above the rates of all large euro area countries, while, after the reform, it is close to the lower end of rates in those countries.”

The legislation, which was pushed by President Donald Trump and signed into law in December, lowers the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent, among other changes. The changes took effect January 1.

Meanwhile, the U.N.’s trade and development agency said that as multinational companies return an estimated $2 trillion to the United States because of the tax law, there could be “sharp reductions” in foreign direct investment worldwide.

The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development noted in their own preliminary report that the tax law includes a one-time tax on accumulated foreign earnings that could free up funds overseas to be repatriated.

UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said the impact on investment in the developing world remains unclear.

The agency says nearly half of all global investment is in the United States or owned by U.S. multinationals, which have kept about $3.2 trillion in earnings overseas.

Agency officials said the main impact could come over the longer-term, as multinationals reassess their foreign investment portfolios and the effects of the tax reform play out.

UNCTAD says much will depend on how big multinationals respond. It said five technology companies — Apple, Microsoft, Cisco, Alphabet and Oracle — together hold over $530 billion in cash overseas, or about one-fourth of the total “liquid assets” believed to be available for repatriation.
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US Regulators to Back More Oversight of Digital Currencies

By Uponsil | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Silicon Valley

Digital currencies such as bitcoin demand increased oversight and may require a new federal regulatory framework, the top U.S. markets regulators will tell lawmakers at a hotly anticipated congressional hearing on Tuesday.

Christopher Giancarlo, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Jay Clayton, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, will provide testimony to the Senate Banking Committee amid growing concerns globally over the risks virtual currencies pose to investors and the financial system.

Giancarlo and Clayton will say current state-by-state licensing rules for cryptocurrency exchanges may need to be reviewed in favor of a rationalized federal framework, according to prepared testimony published on Monday.

Reporting by Michelle Price.
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Paul Simon Announces His Upcoming May Tour Will Be His Last

By Uponent | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Entertainment

Only a few days after Elton John announced he will retire from touring in three years, another venerable music figure is throwing in the touring towel — Paul Simon.

Simon, 76, took to social media Monday to say his upcoming tour will be his last, citing the personal toll of touring and the death of his lead guitarist, Vincent N’guini.

“I feel the travel and time away from my wife and family takes a toll that detracts from the joy of playing,” he wrote. Retiring from the road “feels a little unsettling, a touch exhilarating, and something of a relief.”

Tickets for his “Homeward Bound — The Farewell Tour ” will go on sale February 8. It kicks off in May in Vancouver, Canada, and will take him across North America and Europe. His last date is July 15 in London with James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt as special guests.

Simon’s best-known songs include “The Sound of Silence,” “Mrs. Robinson,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes.”

Paul Simon is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and has been inducted into the Rock `n’ Roll Hall of Fame, both as a member of Simon & Garfunkel and as a solo artist. The singer-songwriter said he will still do the “occasional performance” after his last tour.

Late last month, the 70-year-old John said his upcoming would tour would be his last, saying he wanted to spend time with his family. His “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour will end in 2021.
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‘Heartwrenching’ Study Shows FGM Prevalent Among India’s Bohra Sect

By Uponsci | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Science

Three quarters of women among India’s Dawoodi Bohra sect have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), according to a study published on Monday which comes just weeks after government officials said there was no data to support its existence.

Campaigners hope the survey – the largest of its kind – will bolster calls for a law to ban the secretive ritual which they say causes physical, emotional and sexual harm.

One mother told how she feared her daughter would bleed to death after she was cut. A third of women believed the procedure had damaged their sex lives. Others spoke of emotional trauma.

Traditional circumcisers told researchers they had cut thousands of girls.

Masooma Ranalvi, founder of campaign group WeSpeakOut which commissioned the study, said the stories were “heartwrenching”.

“This report not only proves FGM does exist in India, but also shows how harmful it is,” Ranalvi told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “Children are still being cut today. This must end.”

The year-long study – published on the eve of International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM – includes 94 interviews with supporters and opponents of the practice.

The Dawoodi Bohra, a Shi‘ite Muslim sect thought to number up to 2 million worldwide, considers the ritual, known as khafd, a religious obligation although it is not mentioned in the Koran.

The procedure, which entails cutting the clitoral hood, is performed around the age of seven.

India’s Supreme Court is considering a petition to ban FGM. Campaigners were shocked in December when the women’s ministry told the court there was no official data or study supporting its existence.

FGM is more commonly linked to a swathe of African countries where cutters may remove all external genitalia.

Supporters of khafd told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the ritual was a “harmless” cultural and religious practice.

The Dawoodi Bohra Women’s Association for Religious Freedom said the study did not represent the views of most Bohra women.

A spokeswoman said in an email that khafd and FGM were “entirely different” practices, and that there was “no place for any kind of mutilation” in the Bohra culture.

But the World Health Organization says FGM includes any injury to the genitalia.

One gynaecologist told researchers it would be easy to damage the clitoris if a girl struggled during the procedure which is done without anaesthesia.

Ranalvi said khafd was rooted in beliefs a woman’s sexual desire must be curbed, but it was “mired in secrecy” and few women dared speak out for fear of ostracisation.

The practice made headlines in 2015 when three members of the Bohra diaspora in Australia were convicted of FGM-related offences. Bohras in the United States face similar charges.

Respondents to the survey said Bohra girls from diaspora communities were now travelling to India to be cut.
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‘Grid Kids’ Replace ‘Grid Girls’ in Formula 1

By Uponent | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Entertainment

“Grid kids” are replacing “grid girls” in Formula One as the motorsport series continues to change ahead of the new season.

F1 says youngsters from motorsport clubs, who for example are already competing in karting, will stand alongside drivers on the grid before races this season.

Monday’s announcement comes after the series last week ended the long-standing practice of using women on the grid, and on the podium with the top three drivers, because this no longer fits in with Formula One’s values and societal norms.

The latest initiative is joint venture by the FIA – motorsport’s governing body – and F1’s owners.

FIA President Jean Todt says “Grid Kids” gives “future champions of our sport the opportunity to stand alongside their heroes.”

Sean Bratches, F1’s managing director of commercial operations, adds: “What better way to inspire the next generation of Formula 1 heroes.”

F1 is owned by Liberty Media, which is changing the way the sport is run since taking over from former commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone in January 2017.

The season starts on March 25 at the Australian Grand Prix.
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Survivors of Female Genital Mutilation Say #MeToo

By Uponsci | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Science

The #MeToo campaign against sexual abuse should include the stories of survivors of female genital mutilation (FGM), activists said ahead of a global day on Tuesday to raise awareness about the internationally condemned ritual.

Leyla Hussein, one of the first FGM survivors to come forward in Britain, urged people to use the #MeToo hashtag when posting about the practice on social media on Feb 6, the annual International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM.

“It’s a shame the #MeToo campaign doesn’t include FGM,” said Hussein, founder of the London-based Dahlia Project, which provides counseling for women who have been cut.

“FGM is a form of sexual abuse, but yet again we’ve been left out,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

At least 200 million women and girls globally have undergone FGM, U.N. data shows. The ritual, involving the partial or total removal of the external genitalia, is practiced in about 30 African countries and parts of Asia and the Middle East.

Campaigners say the tradition – often justified for cultural or religious reasons – is underpinned by the desire to control female sexuality. It can cause serious health problems.

Hibo Wardere, a British activist who was cut as a child in Somalia, said both the #MeToo campaign and the global drive to end FGM were about “women having ownership of their bodies”.

Countless women and girls have taken to social media in recent months using the #MeToo hashtag to talk about their experiences of sexual harassment, abuse and rape.

The campaign was sparked last year after a slew of sexual harassment and assault allegations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. The scandal has since engulfed many other celebrity figures across various industries.

”FGM is a form of sexual violence – of course it should be part of #MeToo,“ Wardere said. ”Being attacked because of our gender unites us.

“FGM is a way of controlling our sexuality, our bodies, our thoughts,” she added. “It’s a way to make you feel like nothing but a commodity that belongs to a man … That’s what we’re all fighting against.”

Some campaigners said conflating FGM with the sexual abuse highlighted by the #MeToo campaign could wrongly imply there was sexual gratification involved with the ritual.

They said FGM should be seen as child abuse, not sex abuse.

But Hussein said sexual assault was not about gratification.

“It’s about having power over someone,” she said. “When someone does FGM, it’s all about power.”
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Philadelphians Take to the Streets to Celebrate Super Bowl Win

By Uponent | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Entertainment

The Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl victory set off a celebration that has been 58 years in the making.

Just as Nick Foles and the Eagles clinched a surprising 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots in Minneapolis for the team’s first Super Bowl title Sunday night, the scene more than 1,000 miles away in Philly was jubilation and pandemonium.

As time expired, crowds across the city spilled out of sports bars, apartments and houses.

There were fireworks amid car horns blaring, and Philadelphians — young and old — descended on Broad Street, the iconic thoroughfare that will soon host a parade to commemorate the city’s first major pro sports championship since the Phillies won the 2008 World Series. It was the Eagles’ first NFL championship since 1960.

“The city deserved it,” said 66-year-old Lou Potel, who threw a party at his home just off Broad before joining a much bigger party outside. “It’s a great city, and now we have a Super Bowl to go along with it.”

Dustin Seidman, 42, and his wife Staci, 41, decided to bring their 10-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter to the festivities on Broad Street, even as drunken fans sprayed beer and climbed trash trucks, street poles and awnings. Social media video showed the awning outside the Ritz-Carlton Hotel collapsing with more than a dozen people on it, but it was unclear if there were any injuries.

“We wouldn’t miss this,” Dustin Seidman said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Philadelphia was left to deal with the cleanup on Monday, after some overzealous fans smashed windows, climbed traffic lights and trashed some convenience stores.

UMass-Amherst campus police said fights broke out, the crowd threw objects and set off smoke bombs and firecrackers. Police used pepper balls to disperse the crowd.

Officials said those transported to hospitals suffered from head injuries, lacerations and alcohol intoxication. Police say those arrested face criminal charges, and if they are students they face punishment under the student code of conduct.

In Boston, fans inside the Banshee Bar came to terms with a rare loss for Tom Brady. Some, however, took it in stride.

“I’ve got nothing to complain about,” Boston resident Bill Crowley said. “It’s the greatest dynasty in NFL history and this loss tonight doesn’t change that.

“They’ll be back,” Conor Hobert added. “One hundred percent, they’ll be back.”

Sam Murphy, 40, actually made the trip from Boston to Philadelphia, flying in Sunday morning before planning to fly back for work Monday. The longtime Eagles fan and Boston resident joked he couldn’t be within 100 miles of his home, instead deciding to watch the game with his old University of Pennsylvania roommate.

“This is Philly at its best,” said Murphy, as he, his former roommate Rob Ballenger, and hundreds of other new friends paraded down South Street to get to the party on Broad. “This team is what Philly is all about.”

Associated Press writers Kristen de Groot in Philadelphia, Mark Pratt in Boston and freelance writer Ignacio Laguarda in Boston contributed to this report.
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Israeli Entrepreneurs Invest in Tech Startups

By Uponsil | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Silicon Valley

Five years ago, Israeli investor Jon Medved started OurCrowd, a business that lets people buy into some of the newest and most innovative tech startups in the world. Some of the most innovative new products were on display at the recent investor summit. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. Faith Lapidus narrates.
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Oscar Nominations Point to Strong Female Characters

By Uponent | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Entertainment

This year’s Oscar nominees in the Best Actress and Supporting Actress categories play complex and empowered women. Their critical acclaim and success at the box office points to the power of female characters in the narrative coming out of Hollywood these days.

In the Oscar-nominated drama “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri,” Mildred Hayes, played by Academy Award-winning actress Frances McDormand, plays a mother whose daughter was brutally murdered. Frustrated by police inactivity searching for the murderer, Mildred leases three large billboards by the side of the road criticizing the local police department and its chief, Sheriff Bill Willoughby, played by Woody Harrelson.

The film, one of nine nominees for Best Picture, combines nuanced characters with stinging social commentary. Partly consumed by his terminal cancer Willoughby has fallen into a comfortable slump — getting by at work and avoiding difficult cases, while his naive, racist deputy Jason Dixon, played by Oscar nominee Sam Rockwell, “is too busy torturing black folks than solving actual crimes,” Mildred says.

The billboards cause havoc in the small town of Ebbing, where many of the residents find Mildred’s confrontational manner a bit too harsh to their sensibilities. But the billboards are there to stay and ultimately mobilize the police into action.

In her Oscar-nominated performance, McDormand portrays Hayes as a no-nonsense, tough as nails, justice-seeking grieving mother.

“Mildred was the main protagonist in the story,” McDormand said. “I haven’t had many chances to do this as an actor. I had a lot of supporting roles to mostly male protagonists in my career, but after doing it, I don’t really want to go back.”

Director Martin McDonagh is no stranger to dark comedies with heavy emotional undertones.

“I wrote it for Frances,” he said.” It had to be somebody who wasn’t going to sentimentalize the character.”

The film has received seven Oscar nominations, including two for supporting actors Rockwell and Harrelson as the two police officers reckoning with the undaunted Mildred.

“The Shape of Water”

Guillermo Del Toro’s fantasy drama “The Shape of Water,” nominated for 13 Oscars, offers a visceral love story and also a nuanced social commentary. Set in early 1960s Baltimore at the height of the Cold War, two cleaning women, played by lead actress Sally Hawkins as mute Elisa Esposito, and supporting actress Octavia Spencer as her friend and co-worker Zelda Fuller, pull night shifts at a secret government laboratory. When an ancient male amphibian is brought in for experiments, Elisa is drawn to him. Gradually, they fall in love.

Del Toro pits three underdog characters — disabled Elisa; Zelda, an African American; and Giles, a gay man and Elisa’s roommate — against a white sadistic security agent, who is using the amphibian creature for experiments. The film, a serious contender for Best Picture and Best Director, is a visceral fantasy and a dark romance.

This is not the first time Del Toro shows a conventional-looking monster as the victim of corrupt men. The cinematography shifts from subdued dark colors to vivid aquatic ones that match the majestic merman gleaming in luminous hues of emerald and aquamarine. The romance is mainly expressed through gestures and eye contact and is reminiscent of silent-era films.

Hawkins delivers a superb performance as the delicate but brave Elisa, who stands up to the menacing Richard Strickland, played by Michael Shannon. Says Spencer about her co-star: “This tiny character in Elisa is without a voice, but she’s got a big heart. It radiates on the screen.”

Elisa hatches a plan that frees the merman from the clutches of the evil security agent.

Both female characters have received Oscar nominations — Hawkins for Best Actress and Spencer for Supporting Actress. Richard Jenkins, who plays Giles, has also received an Oscar nomination for supporting actor.

“When I wrote “The Shape of Water,” Del Toro said, I wanted one character to be made by three actors. Octavia, Richard and Sally are a single character. I wanted to have characters that are marginal, and yet they get together, and they give the finger to the man.” (defy the powerful).

“Lady Bird”

“Lady Bird” is another Oscar front-runner, nominated for five Oscars. This is a heart-warming, coming-of-age film about a high school senior resenting her Catholic high school and dreaming of adventure, love and independence.

The film’s achievement lies in the tender storytelling by Oscar-nominated director and screenwriter Greta Gerwig, and in its great cast — particularly its mother-daughter ensemble, played by Oscar-nominated actress Saoirce Roman as Lady Bird, and Oscar nominee Laurie Metcalf as her mother.

This loving, antagonistic relationship, spontaneous and honest, will resonate with many mothers and daughters that age.
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Working Too Much and Moving Too Fast? Recharj Offers Solutions

By Uponsci | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Science

Working for long hours as an IT consultant, Daniel Turissini used to always feel tired by the middle of his workday. He asked other business professionals around him about what they do and where they go to re-energize. The answers varied, from having a nap in their cars in the garages or a nearest hotel lobby, to just falling asleep at their work desk. Seeing a need and an opportunity he founded recharj, a place where professionals can go to take a quick rest.

Need to Recharge?

Washington DC, the nation’s capital, is home to government agencies, financial institutions and all kinds of firms and corporations.

In the heart of this busy city, where people work for long hours, recharj opened a few months ago. People drop by from around the city for a break.

After turning off all electronic devices, customers go to any of the sleep “cocoons,” separated by white curtains hanging from the ceiling. Inside these pods, bean bag beds, blankets and lavender scented eye-masks allow them to fall asleep to soft music.

After a 20-minute nap, they’re awakened and go back to work refreshed.

recharj founder, Daniel Turissini, says his place offers the answer to our fast-paced lifestyle; an opportunity to slow down.

“Some of the distractions that we’re facing today we’ve never seen before, like the smartphones tethered to our belts 24/7 so your boss can contact you at all hours at night or when you’re on vacation,” he says. “There is a challenge we really never had a generation ago. There’s a load of other challenges we’re facing today that wellness and life style changes, habit changes are critical to a sustainable life, to a long happy life.”

Sounds Invite Relaxation

To help clients improve their physical and mental wellness, recharj also offers guided sessions on meditation and mindfulness. Senior teacher, Page Lichens, uses different tools to help her students stay mindful of the moment.

“Listening to relaxing sounds allows them to step into a place of putting away other thoughts and lay back and listen,” she explains. “The sounds specifically have different areas where they’re working into different vibrations on the person’s body. So beyond that a lot of them would end up talking about the experience of lightness or floating. They were uncertain where they were, but they just relaxed deeper than having just to lay down, trying to sleep.”

The rejuvenating experience keeps customers coming back. Connor Garitty, an IT consultant, says he comes to recharge almost every day.

“I feel, I guess, like the day is just beginning instead of (thinking) ‘Oh my God how am I going to get through the rest of the day?’ I come here a lot at the middle of the day and after work. And even that is just as helpful because you’re energized,” he says.

Mari Aponte, a lawyer, says she feels tired and stressed out after hours of sitting down working. “What I like most about coming here is that I can breathe, whereas my morning is very crazy. I drink a lot of coffee and I’m like moving too much, too fast. So, I come here, it helps stop time and just balance my day.” Guided meditations help Aponte relieve her physical tension as well.

“A lot of the things that they do includes a full body scan,” she says. “So, you can check and see which areas you’re carrying more stress, and which areas you can soften. My problem is usually here, in my jaws. This is where I hold my tension. So, it helps me loosen this area.”

Recharging Workplace

recharj’s experts also offer wellness workshops at workplace.

“The companies now are understanding that not only is there so much goodwill involved in treating your employees and educating them on health and wellness and lifestyle, but also there is a bottom line to it, there is a return on investment that the companies get from ensuring and promoting health, wellness activities with in organizations,” recharj’s Turissini says. “So, we teach them different tools that are attainable in an office environment so that they can find a little of calm in the middle of the day, but more than that, they can learn to manage their angry thoughts and they can actually be more productive.”

As the trend of promoting wellness and healthy habits continues, the business of midday breaks is expected to grow and thrive. Daniel Turissini, recharj founder, is proud to be one of the pioneers.
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Philadelphia Eagles Win First-Ever Super Bowl Trophy

By Uponent | 02/05/2018 | No Comments | Entertainment

The underdog Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots 41-33 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to win the 52nd edition of the U.S. National Football League’s annual Super Bowl championship.

The win gave the Eagles, representing the National Football Conference, their first-ever Super Bowl trophy after two previous appearances.

Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, who was a backup this season until star quarterback Carson Wentz suffered a season-ending knee injury in week 14, was named the game’s Most Valuable Player, throwing for three touchdowns and 341 meters, including a touchdown pass to receiver Zach Ertz late in the fourth quarter that gave the Eagles the lead for good. Foles even caught a touchdown pass on a trick play in the second quarter, making him the first player in Super Bowl history to both throw for and catch a touchdown in the same game.

The Eagles lost the 1981 Super Bowl to the Oakland Raiders and the 2005 game to New England. The franchise’s last NFL championship came in 1960 — seven years before the first Super Bowl game.

The Patriots, guided by future Hall-of-Fame head coach Bill Belichick and future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Tom Brady, were seeking their second consecutive Vince Lombardi trophy and their sixth overall in Brady’s 16 seasons with New England.

The 40-year-old Brady, a three-time Super Bowl MVP, shredded Philadelphia’s defensive secondary for a playoff record 462 meters and three touchdowns, and was poised to lead New England on another game-winning drive after the Eagles’s final touchdown. But Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham stripped Brady of the ball and teammate Derek Barnett recovered it.

The game saw a record 1,052 meters of offense by both teams.

After Philadelphia rookie place-kicker Jake Elliot hit a 46-yard field goal to put the Eagles ahead 41-33 with just over a minute left in regulation, Brady stepped on the field for one last drive to potentially send the game into overtime. But a final deep pass to the end zone fell incomplete as time ran out.

Brady says he plans to return next year to try for a seventh title. Foles will likely return to a backup role under Wentz, one of the game’s rising stars.
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Day: February 5, 2018