April 30, 2018
Syria war: Missile strikes on military sites 'kill pro-Assad fighters'
Coming from a military facility south of Hama
Missile strikes on military sites in northern Syria overnight reportedly killed a number of pro-government fighters, including Iranians.
The Syrian military said facilities in Hama and Aleppo provinces were struck.
It did not say if there were any casualties. But a UK-based monitoring group said four Syrians and 22 foreigners, mostly Iranians, died.
It is not known who was behind the attacks. Western nations and Israel have previously hit sites in Syria.
Earlier this month, the US, UK and France bombed three facilities they said were associated with the Syrian government's alleged chemical weapons programme.
Israel is alleged to have hit an airbase reportedly serving as an Iranian drone command centre and containing an advanced Iranian air defence system. Seven Iranians were among 14 military personnel killed in that attack.
Israel has repeatedly vowed to stop Iran from strengthening its military presence in Syria, where it has deployed hundreds of troops since the country's civil war began in 2011 to help keep President Bashar al-Assad in power.
Thousands of Shia Muslim militiamen armed, trained and financed by Iran - mostly from Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, but also Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen - have also fought alongside the Syrian army.
US-led strikes on Syria: What was hit?
Israel blamed for Syria airfield attack
A Syrian military source cited by the official Sana news agency said only that the sites targeted on Sunday night were "exposed… to a new aggression".
The source added that the strikes came after terrorist organisations had suffered defeats in the countryside of the capital, Damascus, an apparent reference to the recent recapture of the Eastern Ghouta region from rebel groups.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, said one strike appeared to have targeted a depot for surface-to-surface missiles at the 47th Brigade military base, south of the city of Hama.
The pro-opposition Orient News website also reported that large explosions were seen coming from what were believed to be ammunition caches at the base.
Opposition media activist Mohammed Rasheed meanwhile told the Associated Press that debris from the explosion at the depot struck parts of Hama and that residents of areas near the base fled their homes.
Missiles are also reported to have hit locations in the Salhab area, west of Hama city, and the area surrounding Nairab military airport, which is close to the city of Aleppo and its international airport.
The SOHR cited its sources as saying 26 pro-government fighters were killed in the missile strikes, most of them Iranians. It added that the death toll might rise as 60 fighters were wounded, some of them seriously, and that others were missing.
An official from a regional alliance that includes Iran and Hezbollah told the New York Times that the strike on the 47th Brigade base destroyed 200 missiles and killed 16 people, including 11 Iranians.
Iran's semi-official Fars news agency cited its sources as saying that the missiles struck weapons depots in southern Hama and an area north of Aleppo's airport, but they denied that Iranian military advisers were killed.
Iran's Tasnim news agency also cited an unnamed source as dismissing as "baseless" the reports that Iranian facilities were hit and Iranians killed.
The SOHR said that given the nature of the targets, the attacks were likely to have been carried out by Israel.
But Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said on Monday morning that he was "not aware" of the strikes.
"All the violence and instability in Syria is the result of Iran's attempts to establish a military presence there. Israel will not allow the opening of a northern front in Syria," he told Israel's Army Radio.
Monday, April 30, 2018
VITAMIN B6 SUPPLEMENTS COULD HELP YOU REMEMBER YOUR DREAMS, STUDY CLAIMS - Independent
April 30, 2018
VITAMIN B6 SUPPLEMENTS COULD HELP YOU REMEMBER YOUR DREAMS, STUDY CLAIMS
Participants also reported better sleep quality and lower tiredness on waking
SARAH YOUNG
@sarah_j_young
10 hours ago
Taking a vitamin found in bananas, tuna and avocado could help people to recall their dreams, scientists claim.
New research from the University of Adelaide, published in the journal Perceptual and Motor Skills, analysed the effects of taking high-dose vitamin B6 supplements on 100 participants from around Australia.
Half of the participants took 240mg of vitamin B6 – the equivalent of 558 bananas - immediately before bed for five consecutive nights, while the other half were given a placebo.
You are probably not getting enough sleep, and it is killing you
The results showed that those who took B6 recalled 64.1 per cent more dream content, reported better sleep quality and significantly lower tiredness on waking.
“It seems as time went on my dreams were clearer and clearer and easier to remember. I also did not lose fragments as the day went on,” one participant said.
Another added: ”My dreams were more real, I couldn't wait to go to bed and dream!“
Interestingly, the intake of vitamin B6 did not affect the vividness, bizarreness or colour of people’s dreams.
”The average person spends around six years of their lives dreaming,” said Dr Denholm Aspy, of the University of Adelaide's School of Psychology, Australia.
“If we are able to become lucid and control our dreams, we can then use our dreaming time more productively.
”Lucid dreaming, where you know that you are dreaming while the dream is still happening, has many potential benefits.
“For example, it may be possible to use lucid dreaming for overcoming nightmares, treating phobias, creative problem solving, refining motor skills and even helping with rehabilitation from physical trauma.”
According to the NHS, vitamin B6, also known as pyridoxine, can be found in various foods including whole grain cereals, fruits such as banana and avocado, vegetables such as spinach and potato, milk, cheese, eggs, red meat, liver, and fish.
Vitamin A antibiotic could be new superbug killer, finds study
It suggests that the daily amount of vitamin B6 adults aged 19 to 64 need is 1.4mg for men and 1.2mg for women, which can be acquired from a normal diet.
Despite the study’s findings, the NHS adds that taking doses of 10-200mg a day for short periods may not cause any harm but could lead to a loss of feeling in the arms and legs, known as peripheral neuropathy, overtime.
As such, people should not take the supplement over 10mg unless advised by a doctor
VITAMIN B6 SUPPLEMENTS COULD HELP YOU REMEMBER YOUR DREAMS, STUDY CLAIMS
Participants also reported better sleep quality and lower tiredness on waking
SARAH YOUNG
@sarah_j_young
10 hours ago
Taking a vitamin found in bananas, tuna and avocado could help people to recall their dreams, scientists claim.
New research from the University of Adelaide, published in the journal Perceptual and Motor Skills, analysed the effects of taking high-dose vitamin B6 supplements on 100 participants from around Australia.
Half of the participants took 240mg of vitamin B6 – the equivalent of 558 bananas - immediately before bed for five consecutive nights, while the other half were given a placebo.
You are probably not getting enough sleep, and it is killing you
The results showed that those who took B6 recalled 64.1 per cent more dream content, reported better sleep quality and significantly lower tiredness on waking.
“It seems as time went on my dreams were clearer and clearer and easier to remember. I also did not lose fragments as the day went on,” one participant said.
Another added: ”My dreams were more real, I couldn't wait to go to bed and dream!“
Interestingly, the intake of vitamin B6 did not affect the vividness, bizarreness or colour of people’s dreams.
”The average person spends around six years of their lives dreaming,” said Dr Denholm Aspy, of the University of Adelaide's School of Psychology, Australia.
“If we are able to become lucid and control our dreams, we can then use our dreaming time more productively.
”Lucid dreaming, where you know that you are dreaming while the dream is still happening, has many potential benefits.
“For example, it may be possible to use lucid dreaming for overcoming nightmares, treating phobias, creative problem solving, refining motor skills and even helping with rehabilitation from physical trauma.”
According to the NHS, vitamin B6, also known as pyridoxine, can be found in various foods including whole grain cereals, fruits such as banana and avocado, vegetables such as spinach and potato, milk, cheese, eggs, red meat, liver, and fish.
Vitamin A antibiotic could be new superbug killer, finds study
It suggests that the daily amount of vitamin B6 adults aged 19 to 64 need is 1.4mg for men and 1.2mg for women, which can be acquired from a normal diet.
Despite the study’s findings, the NHS adds that taking doses of 10-200mg a day for short periods may not cause any harm but could lead to a loss of feeling in the arms and legs, known as peripheral neuropathy, overtime.
As such, people should not take the supplement over 10mg unless advised by a doctor
Lack of fuel subsidies could hasten Asian crude demand destruction: Russell - Reuters
APRIL 30, 2018 / 4:01 PM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
Lack of fuel subsidies could hasten Asian crude demand destruction: Russell
Clyde Russell
LAUNCESTON, Australia (Reuters) - The term “demand destruction” is again entering the lexicon of the current crude oil market as the sharp rise in prices raises concerns about when do consumers start cutting back on their fuel consumption.
While it’s probably impossible to pick the exact point at which this happens, the risk in the current cycle of rising prices is that it happens earlier than in the past in Asia, the main region driving rising crude demand.
The reason for this is that many countries in Asia used the prior period of falling crude prices to end, or dramatically scale back, their fuel subsidies.
This means that this time consumers in countries such as India, Indonesia and Malaysia are fully exposed to rising crude prices, something that hasn’t been in the case in previous bull cycles.
The combined oil consumption of those three countries is about 6.5 million barrels per day (bpd), with India alone accounting for about 4.3 million bpd.
Even a 5 percent drop in demand for fuel in those countries would knock about 325,000 bpd from global crude oil consumption.
So far, it appears that consumers in those countries haven’t been exposed to the full extent of the crude oil increase.
Global benchmark Brent crude closed at $74.64 a barrel on April 27, up 11.6 percent since the end of last year and 66.5 percent from last year’s low in June.
The price of a liter of diesel in New Delhi was 65.93 rupees on Sunday, according to data on the website of Indian Oil. This is equivalent to about $1 a liter.
At the end of last year, the price of a liter of diesel was 59.64 rupees, meaning it has risen by 10.5 percent so far this year, not quite keeping pace with the rise in Brent crude oil.
When crude was at its 2017 low in June, diesel was 53.46 rupees a liter in New Delhi, meaning it has risen about 23.3 percent since then, while Brent has jumped by 66.5 percent.
What appears to have happened is that the state-controlled oil majors such as Indian Oil have largely absorbed the cost of rising crude prices, partly because of government pressure to do so.
But there has to be a question mark as to how long this can continue to be the case.
POINT OF PAIN
Indian Oil’s share price has plunged 28 percent since its 2017 high, reached in August, and there will likely come a point where the pain of the slumping stock price outweighs the political pressure to keep absorbing the cost of higher crude oil prices.
There is also some preliminary evidence that India’s appetite for crude oil is leveling off, with imports trending lower so far this year, according to vessel-tracking and port data compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Research and Forecasts.
For the first 29 days of April, the data, which has been filtered to show only cargoes that have been discharged, show imports running at 3.97 million bpd.
This is down from 4.05 million bpd in March, 4.7 million bpd in February and 4.5 million bpd in January.
While there may be some seasonal slowing in India’s crude demand, it’s worth noting that April this year appears to be slightly weaker than the 4.01 million bpd imported in the same month in 2017.
In Indonesia, which ended gasoline subsidies in 2015 and lowered the diesel subsidy to 500 rupiah (3.6 U.S. cents) per liter in 2016, retail prices also haven’t risen by as much as the price of crude oil.
Diesel was about the equivalent of about 75 cents a liter last week, up from 68 cents at the start of the year, according to data on the website GlobalPetrolPrices.com.
Similar to India, this means Indonesian consumers have only been partially slugged the increase in the price of crude oil, meaning the state-owned fuel retailer has been absorbing the difference via shrinking profit margins.
Again, how much longer this can continue is uncertain, but one would imagine at some point rising crude prices will have to be reflected in higher retail prices for diesel and gasoline.
Even when retail fuel prices do rise, picking the exact level at which consumers cut back on usage, either directly by driving or flying less, or indirectly by purchasing fewer goods and services as they divert income to rising fuel bills, is a challenge and will vary from country to country.
But the absence of fuel subsidies in most Asian nations is likely to mean the region feels the pain of the jump in crude prices far faster than was the case previously.
Editing by Christian Schmollinger
Lack of fuel subsidies could hasten Asian crude demand destruction: Russell
Clyde Russell
LAUNCESTON, Australia (Reuters) - The term “demand destruction” is again entering the lexicon of the current crude oil market as the sharp rise in prices raises concerns about when do consumers start cutting back on their fuel consumption.
While it’s probably impossible to pick the exact point at which this happens, the risk in the current cycle of rising prices is that it happens earlier than in the past in Asia, the main region driving rising crude demand.
The reason for this is that many countries in Asia used the prior period of falling crude prices to end, or dramatically scale back, their fuel subsidies.
This means that this time consumers in countries such as India, Indonesia and Malaysia are fully exposed to rising crude prices, something that hasn’t been in the case in previous bull cycles.
The combined oil consumption of those three countries is about 6.5 million barrels per day (bpd), with India alone accounting for about 4.3 million bpd.
Even a 5 percent drop in demand for fuel in those countries would knock about 325,000 bpd from global crude oil consumption.
So far, it appears that consumers in those countries haven’t been exposed to the full extent of the crude oil increase.
Global benchmark Brent crude closed at $74.64 a barrel on April 27, up 11.6 percent since the end of last year and 66.5 percent from last year’s low in June.
The price of a liter of diesel in New Delhi was 65.93 rupees on Sunday, according to data on the website of Indian Oil. This is equivalent to about $1 a liter.
At the end of last year, the price of a liter of diesel was 59.64 rupees, meaning it has risen by 10.5 percent so far this year, not quite keeping pace with the rise in Brent crude oil.
When crude was at its 2017 low in June, diesel was 53.46 rupees a liter in New Delhi, meaning it has risen about 23.3 percent since then, while Brent has jumped by 66.5 percent.
What appears to have happened is that the state-controlled oil majors such as Indian Oil have largely absorbed the cost of rising crude prices, partly because of government pressure to do so.
But there has to be a question mark as to how long this can continue to be the case.
POINT OF PAIN
Indian Oil’s share price has plunged 28 percent since its 2017 high, reached in August, and there will likely come a point where the pain of the slumping stock price outweighs the political pressure to keep absorbing the cost of higher crude oil prices.
There is also some preliminary evidence that India’s appetite for crude oil is leveling off, with imports trending lower so far this year, according to vessel-tracking and port data compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Research and Forecasts.
For the first 29 days of April, the data, which has been filtered to show only cargoes that have been discharged, show imports running at 3.97 million bpd.
This is down from 4.05 million bpd in March, 4.7 million bpd in February and 4.5 million bpd in January.
While there may be some seasonal slowing in India’s crude demand, it’s worth noting that April this year appears to be slightly weaker than the 4.01 million bpd imported in the same month in 2017.
In Indonesia, which ended gasoline subsidies in 2015 and lowered the diesel subsidy to 500 rupiah (3.6 U.S. cents) per liter in 2016, retail prices also haven’t risen by as much as the price of crude oil.
Diesel was about the equivalent of about 75 cents a liter last week, up from 68 cents at the start of the year, according to data on the website GlobalPetrolPrices.com.
Similar to India, this means Indonesian consumers have only been partially slugged the increase in the price of crude oil, meaning the state-owned fuel retailer has been absorbing the difference via shrinking profit margins.
Again, how much longer this can continue is uncertain, but one would imagine at some point rising crude prices will have to be reflected in higher retail prices for diesel and gasoline.
Even when retail fuel prices do rise, picking the exact level at which consumers cut back on usage, either directly by driving or flying less, or indirectly by purchasing fewer goods and services as they divert income to rising fuel bills, is a challenge and will vary from country to country.
But the absence of fuel subsidies in most Asian nations is likely to mean the region feels the pain of the jump in crude prices far faster than was the case previously.
Editing by Christian Schmollinger
25 killed, including 8 journalists, in Kabul suicide bombing - ABC News
25 killed, including 8 journalists, in Kabul suicide bombing
By MARK OSBORNE Apr 30, 2018, 5:00 AM ET
Security forces stand amid smoke at the site of a suicide attack after the second bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 30, 2018.
A pair of suicide bombings in Afghanistan have killed at least 25 people, including eight journalists, according to the country's health ministry.
The Afghan government said Monday's first explosion in Kabul, the country's capital, came from an attacker who was on a motorcycle. When journalists responded to cover the first explosion, a second attacker dressed as a journalist got close to the scene and detonated a second blast among the reporters, the health ministry said.
In addition to the dead, the government also confirmed at least 45 people were wounded.
Security forces run from the site of a suicide attack after the second bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 30, 2018. A coordinated double suicide bombing hit central Kabul on Monday morning, (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini)more +
Suicide bomber in Kabul, Afghanistan, kills more than 50 people
Trump officials defend Afghanistan policy before skeptical senators
According to the health ministry, among the dead was Shah Marai, a longtime photographer for Agence France-Presse (AFP), and Ebadullah Hananzai, from Radio Free Europe. The other journalists killed in the attack belonged to local outlets: Yar Mohammad Tokhi, a Tolonews cameraman; Ghazi Rasooli, a 1TV reporter; Nowrooz Rajabj, a 1TV cameraman; Saleem Talash, a Mashal TV reporter; Mahram Durani, a journalist from Shamsad TV; and Ali Salimi, a Mashal TV cameraman.
A wounded man looks at the site of double explosions, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 30, 2018. The explosions targeted central Kabul on Monday morning, killing people and wounding a dozen, authorities said. AP
A security force and a civilian lie low at the site of a suicide attack after the second bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 30, 2018. A coordinated double suicide bombing hit central Kabul on Monday morning, (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini)The Associated Press
No one had claimed responsibility for the attack in the immediate aftermath. The number of attacks have stepped up in Afghanistan recently, including an ambulance bomb that killed 50 on April 22 and six people, including two soldiers, who were killed in a car bombing on Saturday, according to The Associated Press.
ABC News' Aleem Agha contributed to this report from Kabul.
By MARK OSBORNE Apr 30, 2018, 5:00 AM ET
Security forces stand amid smoke at the site of a suicide attack after the second bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 30, 2018.
A pair of suicide bombings in Afghanistan have killed at least 25 people, including eight journalists, according to the country's health ministry.
The Afghan government said Monday's first explosion in Kabul, the country's capital, came from an attacker who was on a motorcycle. When journalists responded to cover the first explosion, a second attacker dressed as a journalist got close to the scene and detonated a second blast among the reporters, the health ministry said.
In addition to the dead, the government also confirmed at least 45 people were wounded.
Security forces run from the site of a suicide attack after the second bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 30, 2018. A coordinated double suicide bombing hit central Kabul on Monday morning, (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini)more +
Suicide bomber in Kabul, Afghanistan, kills more than 50 people
Trump officials defend Afghanistan policy before skeptical senators
According to the health ministry, among the dead was Shah Marai, a longtime photographer for Agence France-Presse (AFP), and Ebadullah Hananzai, from Radio Free Europe. The other journalists killed in the attack belonged to local outlets: Yar Mohammad Tokhi, a Tolonews cameraman; Ghazi Rasooli, a 1TV reporter; Nowrooz Rajabj, a 1TV cameraman; Saleem Talash, a Mashal TV reporter; Mahram Durani, a journalist from Shamsad TV; and Ali Salimi, a Mashal TV cameraman.
A wounded man looks at the site of double explosions, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 30, 2018. The explosions targeted central Kabul on Monday morning, killing people and wounding a dozen, authorities said. AP
A security force and a civilian lie low at the site of a suicide attack after the second bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 30, 2018. A coordinated double suicide bombing hit central Kabul on Monday morning, (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini)The Associated Press
No one had claimed responsibility for the attack in the immediate aftermath. The number of attacks have stepped up in Afghanistan recently, including an ambulance bomb that killed 50 on April 22 and six people, including two soldiers, who were killed in a car bombing on Saturday, according to The Associated Press.
ABC News' Aleem Agha contributed to this report from Kabul.
Palestinian National Council to discuss ending ties with Israel - Al Jazeera
Palestinian National Council to discuss ending ties with Israel
In first meeting in nine years, Palestinian National Council is set to discuss suspending recognition of Israel.
by Ali Younes
28 Apr 2018
Critics of Abbas have questioned the PA president's motives of convening the PNC [File: Majdi Mohammed/The Associated Press]
The legislative body of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) is set to discuss suspending the recognition of Israel, in addition to several other critical issues of Palestinian politics.
For the first time in nine years, the Palestinian National Council (PNC) is scheduled to convene in Ramallah on Monday, in a meeting that has Palestinians split between supporters and opponents of the gathering.
Critics of President Mahmoud Abbas have rejected the PNC meeting as a shrewd political manoeuvre, while others see it as a potential turning point in Palestinian politics.
The PNC is expected to vote in a new 18-member Executive Committee of the PLO, the governing body of the organisation, and discuss transforming the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the occupied West Bank, into a state with its own institutions and monetary system.
Dominant Palestinian faction, Fatah decided to push ahead with convening the PNC, despite the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) boycotting the meeting.
Hamas is not invited to the council meeting, even as the topic of Palestinian reconciliation is high on the PNC agenda.
"This meeting is vital to continue the Palestinian efforts to end divisions and fragmentation between Palestinian factions," said Wasel Abu Yousef, a current observer-member of the PLO Executive Committee, and head of one of the smaller Palestinian factions, the Palestine Liberation Front.
"[The PNC will] elect new executive bodies that will push forward, in support of Palestinian national rights," Yousef added.
PLO's Executive Committee member Saeb Erekat told Al Jazeera that "this meeting is a turning point for the Palestinians in this critical junction."
Explaining why the PNC needed to convene after being dormant for years, Erekat told Lebanese media that "successive Israeli governments were never interested in two states - Israel and Palestine living side by side".
"Rather, what they wanted all along was one state - Israel - with two systems; an apartheid state," Erekat told Beirut-based Al Mayadeed TV.
PNC agenda
Mohammad Shtayyeh, a member of Fatah's Central Committee, told Al Jazeera that "the reason behind electing a new PLO Executive Committee is to ensure the legal framework and continuity of representation of the Palestinian people."
The PNC's agenda will also discuss the United State's positions on Israel - especially the US' recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital - and ways to deal with the measures.
"No Palestinian will accept dealing with the United States so long as it insists on its positions on Jerusalem and being against the rights of Palestinian refugees to return home," Erekat said.
Palestinians have consistently demanded that the Arab eastern side of the holy city be recognised as their future capital.
Israel occupied the east side of Jerusalem during the 1967 war, along with the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula. In 1980, Israel annexed East Jerusalem, in contravention of international laws regarding land occupied during wars.
The PNC meeting will also discuss calls to suspend PLO recognition of Israel, cut all ties and agreements with it, and discuss resistance to the Israeli occupation of Palestine in peaceful means.
In addition, the PNC will discuss is the transformation of the Palestinian Authority from an authority based on the Oslo agreements to a formal state in the occupied territories.
It is also expected to discuss Palestinian reconciliation efforts to end the division between Fatah and Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip.
Abbas power play?
Critics, however, argue that Abbas' insistence to convene the PNC is motivated by ensuring his legacy and preserving the interests of his Fatah faction.
They fear that once Abbas, 82, guarantees the formation of a loyalist PNC and PLO executive body, he would then work to guarantee the continuity of his vision after he leaves the scene.
Maher Obeid, a senior Hamas official, told Al Jazeera that Abbas did not want Hamas to participate unless it surrenders to its conditions and gives up its armed resistance to Israeli occupation.
"Abbas wants to exact revenge on Hamas for his own personal reasons," Obeid said.
Hamas issued a statement rejecting the "convening of the Council under the bayonets of the occupation".
After declining the invite, the PFLP, one of the main factions of the PLO, said that the PNC should only be convening to unite the Palestinian factions.
Palestinian activist Wael Malalha, who lives in Amman, said the upcoming PNC session in Ramallah is aimed at imposing Abbas' views on the future of the Palestinian national movement.
"Abbas has one specific vision and one agenda; self-preservation," he said. "The US, Israel and their Arab allies are mounting great pressure on the Palestinians to accept the so-called 'deal of the century'," said Malalha.
"Abbas wants to accept this deal and wants the PNC and the Executive Committee to give him the political cover to accept it," he added.
According to regional press reports, the "deal of the century" is a purported agreement between the US, Israel and Arab allies Jordan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt, to end the two-state solution and divide or share sovereignty over the Palestinian population in the occupied territories between Israel, Jordan and Egypt.
Several Palestinian organisations and independent figures have called on Abbas and Fatah to cancel this meeting because it would cement Palestinian divisions and fragmentation.
Is the PNC still relevant?
First convened in Jerusalem in 1964, the PNC now counts 723 members. After the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967, the PNC came to be considered as the de facto Palestinian parliament, with many of its members living in exile.
The idea for it was to represent Palestinians around the world, their political parties, and their trade and professional syndicates.
The last ordinary session of the PNC was held in Gaza in 1996, when Yasser Arafat was the chairman of the PLO and recently appointed president of the Palestinian Authority.
In that session, the parts of the PLO Charter that denied Israel's right to exist were nullified.
In 2009, Abbas convened an extraordinary session of the PNC in Ramallah.
According to the Palestinian national charter, the PNC is the highest Palestinian governing body, and its members are supposed to be elected to represent Palestinian communities from around the world in the countries where voting for PNC membership is possible.
However, after signing the Oslo peace agreement between the PLO and Israel in 1993, which resulted in the formation of a local Palestinian Authority and Legislative Council, the PLO and PNC were left on the margins.
In first meeting in nine years, Palestinian National Council is set to discuss suspending recognition of Israel.
by Ali Younes
28 Apr 2018
Critics of Abbas have questioned the PA president's motives of convening the PNC [File: Majdi Mohammed/The Associated Press]
The legislative body of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) is set to discuss suspending the recognition of Israel, in addition to several other critical issues of Palestinian politics.
For the first time in nine years, the Palestinian National Council (PNC) is scheduled to convene in Ramallah on Monday, in a meeting that has Palestinians split between supporters and opponents of the gathering.
Critics of President Mahmoud Abbas have rejected the PNC meeting as a shrewd political manoeuvre, while others see it as a potential turning point in Palestinian politics.
The PNC is expected to vote in a new 18-member Executive Committee of the PLO, the governing body of the organisation, and discuss transforming the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the occupied West Bank, into a state with its own institutions and monetary system.
Dominant Palestinian faction, Fatah decided to push ahead with convening the PNC, despite the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) boycotting the meeting.
Hamas is not invited to the council meeting, even as the topic of Palestinian reconciliation is high on the PNC agenda.
"This meeting is vital to continue the Palestinian efforts to end divisions and fragmentation between Palestinian factions," said Wasel Abu Yousef, a current observer-member of the PLO Executive Committee, and head of one of the smaller Palestinian factions, the Palestine Liberation Front.
"[The PNC will] elect new executive bodies that will push forward, in support of Palestinian national rights," Yousef added.
PLO's Executive Committee member Saeb Erekat told Al Jazeera that "this meeting is a turning point for the Palestinians in this critical junction."
Explaining why the PNC needed to convene after being dormant for years, Erekat told Lebanese media that "successive Israeli governments were never interested in two states - Israel and Palestine living side by side".
"Rather, what they wanted all along was one state - Israel - with two systems; an apartheid state," Erekat told Beirut-based Al Mayadeed TV.
PNC agenda
Mohammad Shtayyeh, a member of Fatah's Central Committee, told Al Jazeera that "the reason behind electing a new PLO Executive Committee is to ensure the legal framework and continuity of representation of the Palestinian people."
The PNC's agenda will also discuss the United State's positions on Israel - especially the US' recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital - and ways to deal with the measures.
"No Palestinian will accept dealing with the United States so long as it insists on its positions on Jerusalem and being against the rights of Palestinian refugees to return home," Erekat said.
Palestinians have consistently demanded that the Arab eastern side of the holy city be recognised as their future capital.
Israel occupied the east side of Jerusalem during the 1967 war, along with the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula. In 1980, Israel annexed East Jerusalem, in contravention of international laws regarding land occupied during wars.
The PNC meeting will also discuss calls to suspend PLO recognition of Israel, cut all ties and agreements with it, and discuss resistance to the Israeli occupation of Palestine in peaceful means.
In addition, the PNC will discuss is the transformation of the Palestinian Authority from an authority based on the Oslo agreements to a formal state in the occupied territories.
It is also expected to discuss Palestinian reconciliation efforts to end the division between Fatah and Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip.
Abbas power play?
Critics, however, argue that Abbas' insistence to convene the PNC is motivated by ensuring his legacy and preserving the interests of his Fatah faction.
They fear that once Abbas, 82, guarantees the formation of a loyalist PNC and PLO executive body, he would then work to guarantee the continuity of his vision after he leaves the scene.
Maher Obeid, a senior Hamas official, told Al Jazeera that Abbas did not want Hamas to participate unless it surrenders to its conditions and gives up its armed resistance to Israeli occupation.
"Abbas wants to exact revenge on Hamas for his own personal reasons," Obeid said.
Hamas issued a statement rejecting the "convening of the Council under the bayonets of the occupation".
After declining the invite, the PFLP, one of the main factions of the PLO, said that the PNC should only be convening to unite the Palestinian factions.
Palestinian activist Wael Malalha, who lives in Amman, said the upcoming PNC session in Ramallah is aimed at imposing Abbas' views on the future of the Palestinian national movement.
"Abbas has one specific vision and one agenda; self-preservation," he said. "The US, Israel and their Arab allies are mounting great pressure on the Palestinians to accept the so-called 'deal of the century'," said Malalha.
"Abbas wants to accept this deal and wants the PNC and the Executive Committee to give him the political cover to accept it," he added.
According to regional press reports, the "deal of the century" is a purported agreement between the US, Israel and Arab allies Jordan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt, to end the two-state solution and divide or share sovereignty over the Palestinian population in the occupied territories between Israel, Jordan and Egypt.
Several Palestinian organisations and independent figures have called on Abbas and Fatah to cancel this meeting because it would cement Palestinian divisions and fragmentation.
Is the PNC still relevant?
First convened in Jerusalem in 1964, the PNC now counts 723 members. After the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967, the PNC came to be considered as the de facto Palestinian parliament, with many of its members living in exile.
The idea for it was to represent Palestinians around the world, their political parties, and their trade and professional syndicates.
The last ordinary session of the PNC was held in Gaza in 1996, when Yasser Arafat was the chairman of the PLO and recently appointed president of the Palestinian Authority.
In that session, the parts of the PLO Charter that denied Israel's right to exist were nullified.
In 2009, Abbas convened an extraordinary session of the PNC in Ramallah.
According to the Palestinian national charter, the PNC is the highest Palestinian governing body, and its members are supposed to be elected to represent Palestinian communities from around the world in the countries where voting for PNC membership is possible.
However, after signing the Oslo peace agreement between the PLO and Israel in 1993, which resulted in the formation of a local Palestinian Authority and Legislative Council, the PLO and PNC were left on the margins.
Alexa for kids: Amazon's new way to teach your child manners - MSNBC News
Alexa for kids: Amazon's new way to teach your child manners
With kid-friendly content and parental controls, the device should help keep kids safer on the internet.
by Michael Cappetta / Apr.25.2018 / 10:10 PM ET
Amazon is expanding its products to the tiniest of consumers.
The online retail giant unveiled a new line of products on Wednesday, including an Echo Dot Kids Edition, which includes parental controls, time limits, and activity review.
Amazon releases new version of Echo Dot for kids
The move comes at a time when children are using technology more than ever: The average child now spends over two hours in front of a screen every day, according to the non-profit group Common Sense Media. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children aged 2-5 should spend no more than 1 hour per day of supervised technology use.
The Echo Dot for kids looks to address that: By using the voice-activated platform, a child will spend less time in front of a screen, Amazon told NBC News.
Alexa could also teach your child some manners. When a child asks a question by saying “please”, Alexa might respond with a compliment that thanks them for asking politely.
With data privacy still in the headlines, Amazon stressed that the new Echo Dot Kids Edition is equipped with security and safety considerations, and third-party app developers are never given access to a child’s data or information.
“Consumer trust is of utmost importance to us," said Toni Reid, Vice President of Alexa Customer Experience. "We take privacy and security very seriously."
Developers who work on the FreeTime content subscription service are "prohibited from collecting personal information" and Reid told NBC News that Amazon does not "share any information, we don’t share audio recordings or any identifiable personal information to those developers,” said Reid.
Some parents remained skeptical about Amazon's move to capture children's attention and the ensuing privacy concerns.
Jack Meadowsweet
@JackMeadowsweet
Huh. There is a new version of Alexa for kids. Guess I dont need to watch Black Mirror anymore.
10:12 PM - Apr 25, 2018
1
See Jack Meadowsweet's other Tweets
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chris g
@hypervisible
Noooope. "Unless your parents purge it, your Alexa will hold on to every bit of data you have ever given it, all the way back to the first things you shouted at it as a 2-year-old." https://www.buzzfeed.com/mathonan/amazon-alexa-for-kids?utm_term=.fneW9xKdq#.snM4wyzDX …
1:53 AM - Apr 26, 2018
Amazon Created A Version Of Alexa Just For Kids
The personal assistant gets more kid-friendly, less swear-y, and a little bit cuter.
buzzfeed.com
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Others lamented the theory that technology may soon render the parental role completely obsolete:
WHAT IS ETHEREUM? HOW BITCOIN’S BIGGEST RIVAL COULD BECOME THE WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE CRYPTOCURRENCY - Independent
April 30, 2018
WHAT IS ETHEREUM? HOW BITCOIN’S BIGGEST RIVAL COULD BECOME THE WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE CRYPTOCURRENCY
Bitcoin is considered the gold standard of the cryptocurrency market – but ethereum's rise since 2017 has seen its value rise quickly
ANTHONY CUTHBERTSON
@ADCuthbertson
THE INDEPENDENT TECH
The booming price of bitcoin over the last year has created a buzz around cryptocurrency that goes far beyond technology enthusiasts and free market libertarians.
It has also helped draw attention to a number of other virtual currencies looming in its shadow, most notably ethereum.
Ethereum was created in 2013 by a 19-year-old Russian programmer and launched in 2015. For the first two years its price remained below $10. Then, in 2017, it exploded. In the space of 12 months, one unit of the cyptocurrency – called an ether – surged in value to be worth around $1,400 at its peak in January 2018.
While its price has since fallen back down to around $700, many still see it as the most promising of all cryptocurrency platforms, and therefore the one that holds the most potential for future price gains. Some even believe it could one day surpass bitcoin.
“Ethereum has the possibility to overtake the market capitalisation, and thus value, of bitcoin,” Hubert Olszewski, director of business development at Blockchain Board of Derivatives, tells The Independent. “This is because from the get-go it was a more versatile tool.”
A smartphone displaying the current price chart for ethereum on April 25, 2018 in London, England. Cryptocurrency markets began to recover this month following a massive crash during the first quarter of 2018, seeing more than $550 billion wiped from the total market capitalisation. (Getty Images)
When bitcoin became the world’s first decentralised digital currency upon its release in 2009, the world was reeling from the worst financial crisis in decades. So-called crypto-anarchists and others who were disillusioned by the recession hailed bitcoin for its ability to facilitate payments without the need for a bank. Essentially, they thought, it held the potential to revolutionise the global financial system.
Since bitcoin’s inception, more than 1,500 other cryptocurrencies have appeared in its wake. Each one has attempted to offer something that bitcoin can’t, with the argument being that bitcoin’s core technology contains a number a fundamental flaws that are being exposed as its network grows.
Here’s why bitcoin might be on the verge of another price explosion
Some, like litecoin and bitcoin cash, have improved transaction times and lowered transaction costs. Ethereum’s aim, by contrast, is far more ambitious than simply improving upon bitcoin’s credentials as a payment system and store of value.
“Bitcoin is a virtual currency, but also a store of value similar to gold. It’s limited to this function by its own design,” says Alessandra Sollberger, an early investor in bitcoin who has since diversified her cryptocurrency portfolio to include ethereum.
“That’s different with ethereum. Beyond being a virtual currency, it’s been designed as a software platform that enables applications such as smart contracts – which are self-executing, secure contracts – to be built and to run without the need of a third party.”
Ethereum is therefore designed to not just decentralise traditional banks – as bitcoin sets out to do – but decentralise the entire internet. It does this by expanding upon bitcoin’s core technology called the blockchain, which is the online public ledger that permanently records the transactions made across the network.
Using ethereum’s more versatile and advanced blockchain technology, anyone is able to create their own decentralised applications.
“This opens up a vast potential of business use-case particularly as we move towards a much more connected and autonomous future,” says Erhan Korhaliller, founder of the blockchain specialist PR agency EAK Digital. “Ethereum has the potential to proliferate to all levels of business interaction.”
By completely cutting out third parties, ethereum could one day transform the way we transfer everything, from online data to the property deeds of a house. In doing so, it has earned the nickname “World Computer”.
“The ethereum platform has the potential to facilitate major innovation in applications, helping to usher a future in which self-driving cars, for example, can accept crypto in order to become self-sustainable,” says Gaurang Torvekar,co-founder and CEO of Indorse, a professional network powered by ethereum.
“In the years ahead, there might even be a way in which we can use our smartphones for research that can cure cancer, and in turn get paid for it. With a growing number of companies across the globe working on groundbreaking applications using the ethereum blockchain, the future of innovation is bright, with endless possibilities on the horizon.”
The Independent's bitcoin group on Facebook is the best place to follow the latest discussions and developments in cryptocurrency. Join here for the latest on how people are making money – and how they're losing it.
WHAT IS ETHEREUM? HOW BITCOIN’S BIGGEST RIVAL COULD BECOME THE WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE CRYPTOCURRENCY
Bitcoin is considered the gold standard of the cryptocurrency market – but ethereum's rise since 2017 has seen its value rise quickly
ANTHONY CUTHBERTSON
@ADCuthbertson
THE INDEPENDENT TECH
The booming price of bitcoin over the last year has created a buzz around cryptocurrency that goes far beyond technology enthusiasts and free market libertarians.
It has also helped draw attention to a number of other virtual currencies looming in its shadow, most notably ethereum.
Ethereum was created in 2013 by a 19-year-old Russian programmer and launched in 2015. For the first two years its price remained below $10. Then, in 2017, it exploded. In the space of 12 months, one unit of the cyptocurrency – called an ether – surged in value to be worth around $1,400 at its peak in January 2018.
While its price has since fallen back down to around $700, many still see it as the most promising of all cryptocurrency platforms, and therefore the one that holds the most potential for future price gains. Some even believe it could one day surpass bitcoin.
“Ethereum has the possibility to overtake the market capitalisation, and thus value, of bitcoin,” Hubert Olszewski, director of business development at Blockchain Board of Derivatives, tells The Independent. “This is because from the get-go it was a more versatile tool.”
A smartphone displaying the current price chart for ethereum on April 25, 2018 in London, England. Cryptocurrency markets began to recover this month following a massive crash during the first quarter of 2018, seeing more than $550 billion wiped from the total market capitalisation. (Getty Images)
When bitcoin became the world’s first decentralised digital currency upon its release in 2009, the world was reeling from the worst financial crisis in decades. So-called crypto-anarchists and others who were disillusioned by the recession hailed bitcoin for its ability to facilitate payments without the need for a bank. Essentially, they thought, it held the potential to revolutionise the global financial system.
Since bitcoin’s inception, more than 1,500 other cryptocurrencies have appeared in its wake. Each one has attempted to offer something that bitcoin can’t, with the argument being that bitcoin’s core technology contains a number a fundamental flaws that are being exposed as its network grows.
Here’s why bitcoin might be on the verge of another price explosion
Some, like litecoin and bitcoin cash, have improved transaction times and lowered transaction costs. Ethereum’s aim, by contrast, is far more ambitious than simply improving upon bitcoin’s credentials as a payment system and store of value.
“Bitcoin is a virtual currency, but also a store of value similar to gold. It’s limited to this function by its own design,” says Alessandra Sollberger, an early investor in bitcoin who has since diversified her cryptocurrency portfolio to include ethereum.
“That’s different with ethereum. Beyond being a virtual currency, it’s been designed as a software platform that enables applications such as smart contracts – which are self-executing, secure contracts – to be built and to run without the need of a third party.”
Ethereum is therefore designed to not just decentralise traditional banks – as bitcoin sets out to do – but decentralise the entire internet. It does this by expanding upon bitcoin’s core technology called the blockchain, which is the online public ledger that permanently records the transactions made across the network.
Using ethereum’s more versatile and advanced blockchain technology, anyone is able to create their own decentralised applications.
“This opens up a vast potential of business use-case particularly as we move towards a much more connected and autonomous future,” says Erhan Korhaliller, founder of the blockchain specialist PR agency EAK Digital. “Ethereum has the potential to proliferate to all levels of business interaction.”
By completely cutting out third parties, ethereum could one day transform the way we transfer everything, from online data to the property deeds of a house. In doing so, it has earned the nickname “World Computer”.
“The ethereum platform has the potential to facilitate major innovation in applications, helping to usher a future in which self-driving cars, for example, can accept crypto in order to become self-sustainable,” says Gaurang Torvekar,co-founder and CEO of Indorse, a professional network powered by ethereum.
“In the years ahead, there might even be a way in which we can use our smartphones for research that can cure cancer, and in turn get paid for it. With a growing number of companies across the globe working on groundbreaking applications using the ethereum blockchain, the future of innovation is bright, with endless possibilities on the horizon.”
The Independent's bitcoin group on Facebook is the best place to follow the latest discussions and developments in cryptocurrency. Join here for the latest on how people are making money – and how they're losing it.
Psychopaths drink their coffee black, study finds - Independent
April 30, 2018
Psychopaths drink their coffee black, study finds
Posted 10 months ago by indy100 staff in discover
UPVOTE
If you like your coffee black, you may be someone who prefers strong flavours, takes good care of their health, or just wants to drink their coffee the way it’s supposed to be drunk.
Or, you may be a psychopath.
At least, that’s according to a new study published in the journal Appetite, which found a correlation between a love of black coffee and sadist or psychopathic tendencies.
The research surveyed more than 1,000 adults, asking them to give their food and flavour preferences. The participants then took a series of personality tests assessing antisocial personality traits, such as sadism, narcissism and psychopathy.
The study, carried out by researchers at the University of Innsbruck, found that a preference for bitter flavours was linked to psychopathic behaviour.
The closest association was between bitter foods and “everyday sadism” – that is to say, enjoyment of inflicting moderate levels of pain on others.
And it isn’t just black coffee that should ring alarm bells – the study also found participants who reported a fondness for radishes, celery and tonic water were also more likely to exhibit antisocial traits.
This is not the first time research has found a link between taste and personality.
Previous studies have shown sweet taste experiences increase “agreeableness” and eagerness to help, while bitter taste experiences increase hostility and elicit harsher moral judgments.
The researchers Christina Sagioglou and Tobias Greitemeyer believe this association may “become chronic” in people who have a strong liking for bitter flavours, and lead them to have more hostile personalities.
So if your next Tinder date orders strong, black coffee at the end of a meal, or reaches over for a stick of celery, you have been warned.
Psychopaths drink their coffee black, study finds
Posted 10 months ago by indy100 staff in discover
UPVOTE
If you like your coffee black, you may be someone who prefers strong flavours, takes good care of their health, or just wants to drink their coffee the way it’s supposed to be drunk.
Or, you may be a psychopath.
At least, that’s according to a new study published in the journal Appetite, which found a correlation between a love of black coffee and sadist or psychopathic tendencies.
The research surveyed more than 1,000 adults, asking them to give their food and flavour preferences. The participants then took a series of personality tests assessing antisocial personality traits, such as sadism, narcissism and psychopathy.
The study, carried out by researchers at the University of Innsbruck, found that a preference for bitter flavours was linked to psychopathic behaviour.
The closest association was between bitter foods and “everyday sadism” – that is to say, enjoyment of inflicting moderate levels of pain on others.
And it isn’t just black coffee that should ring alarm bells – the study also found participants who reported a fondness for radishes, celery and tonic water were also more likely to exhibit antisocial traits.
This is not the first time research has found a link between taste and personality.
Previous studies have shown sweet taste experiences increase “agreeableness” and eagerness to help, while bitter taste experiences increase hostility and elicit harsher moral judgments.
The researchers Christina Sagioglou and Tobias Greitemeyer believe this association may “become chronic” in people who have a strong liking for bitter flavours, and lead them to have more hostile personalities.
So if your next Tinder date orders strong, black coffee at the end of a meal, or reaches over for a stick of celery, you have been warned.
China says its manufacturing activity slowed down in April amid trade fight with the US - CNBC News
China says its manufacturing activity slowed down in April amid trade fight with the US
China released official Purchasing Managers' Index figures on Monday.
The data showed China's services extending its solid run in April, while activity in the manufacturing sector slowed slightly.
Published on April 30, 2018
Reuters
Activity in China's vast manufacturing sector eased in April, as export orders slowed in another sign of ebbing economic growth, while a simmering Sino-U.S. trade row heightened risks for the industrial sector.
The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) released on Monday fell to 51.4 in April, from 51.5 in March, but remained well above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis. It marked the 21st straight month of expanding business conditions in China.
Analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast the index would ease slightly to 51.3.
But the softer reading, especially the slower export orders, adds to concerns about an expected loss of momentum in the world's second-largest economy, as policymakers navigate debt risks and a heated trade row with the United States.
"The support to the economy from the easing of pollution controls should now largely have run its course," said Chang Liu, China economist at Capital Economics in a note to clients.
"Slower growth is likely in the months ahead as the drags on economic activity from weaker credit growth and the cooling property market intensify."
Beijing is in the third year of a broad effort to curb a dangerous build up of debt across the economy, and so far policy makers appear to have successfully steered through the challenge of tempering financial risks without imperiling growth.
The sub-index for output remained flat at 53.1, while total new orders eased to 52.9 from 53.3.
The still-strong tech sector, which burnished China's solid exports growth in 2017, could come under pressure as rising tensions between China and the United States threaten to hit billions of dollars in cross-border trade.
Signs of softness in the trade sector were already evident in the latest PMI, with the export orders sub-index falling to 50.7 from 51.3.
Speculation is also growing that China is considering shifting its monetary policy to a looser bias, as the threat of an all-out trade war with the United States clouds the outlook for key growth drivers of both China's "old economy" heavy industries and "new economy" tech firms.
The services industry showed "steady development", China's National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement. The official services PMI rose to 54.8 from 54.6 in March, extending a solid run of activity.
The services sector accounts for over half of China's economy, with rising wages giving Chinese consumers more spending power.
The composite PMI covering both manufacturing and services activity rose to 54.1 in April, from March's 54, well above the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction.
China released official Purchasing Managers' Index figures on Monday.
The data showed China's services extending its solid run in April, while activity in the manufacturing sector slowed slightly.
Published on April 30, 2018
Reuters
Activity in China's vast manufacturing sector eased in April, as export orders slowed in another sign of ebbing economic growth, while a simmering Sino-U.S. trade row heightened risks for the industrial sector.
The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) released on Monday fell to 51.4 in April, from 51.5 in March, but remained well above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis. It marked the 21st straight month of expanding business conditions in China.
Analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast the index would ease slightly to 51.3.
But the softer reading, especially the slower export orders, adds to concerns about an expected loss of momentum in the world's second-largest economy, as policymakers navigate debt risks and a heated trade row with the United States.
"The support to the economy from the easing of pollution controls should now largely have run its course," said Chang Liu, China economist at Capital Economics in a note to clients.
"Slower growth is likely in the months ahead as the drags on economic activity from weaker credit growth and the cooling property market intensify."
Beijing is in the third year of a broad effort to curb a dangerous build up of debt across the economy, and so far policy makers appear to have successfully steered through the challenge of tempering financial risks without imperiling growth.
The sub-index for output remained flat at 53.1, while total new orders eased to 52.9 from 53.3.
The still-strong tech sector, which burnished China's solid exports growth in 2017, could come under pressure as rising tensions between China and the United States threaten to hit billions of dollars in cross-border trade.
Signs of softness in the trade sector were already evident in the latest PMI, with the export orders sub-index falling to 50.7 from 51.3.
Speculation is also growing that China is considering shifting its monetary policy to a looser bias, as the threat of an all-out trade war with the United States clouds the outlook for key growth drivers of both China's "old economy" heavy industries and "new economy" tech firms.
The services industry showed "steady development", China's National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement. The official services PMI rose to 54.8 from 54.6 in March, extending a solid run of activity.
The services sector accounts for over half of China's economy, with rising wages giving Chinese consumers more spending power.
The composite PMI covering both manufacturing and services activity rose to 54.1 in April, from March's 54, well above the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction.
What an End to the 68-Year Korean War Would Mean - Bloomberg
What an End to the 68-Year Korean War Would Mean
By David Tweed
April 27, 2018, 10:25 PM GMT+10
From
Two Koreas Agree to End War, Pursue Denuclearization
As neighborly disputes go, this one really has dragged on. Some 65 years since open hostilities ended, North and South Korea are still technically at war. However, after a sudden warming of relations this year, Kim Jong Un became the first North Korean leader to visit South Korea on April 27. He held talks with his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, together reaching an agreement to put an end to hostilities this year.
1. Why is the Korean War still not over?
Because the parties involved in talks to end the war -- North and South Korea, China and the United Nations (representing the international community, including the U.S.) -- never were able to agree on a peace treaty. What was signed in 1953 was only an armistice, or truce, and only among three of the four parties, as South Korea held out. That’s why the border between the two nations has been one of the world’s tensest for decades.
2. What did Kim and Moon agree on?
They announced plans to formally declare a resolution to the war and turn the current armistice into a peace treaty by year’s end, as well as aiming for full denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Moon and Kim talk in the truce village of Panmunjom.Source: Inter-Korean Summit Press Corps/Pool via Bloomberg
3. Have the two countries come close to peace before?
It’s seemed that way. At a 2007 summit in Pyongyang, President Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Jong Il (Kim Jong Un’s father) settled on dozens of agreements aimed at supporting North Korea’s economy and recommitted to a declaration made at a summit in 2000 -- the first between leaders of North Korea and South Korea -- that the two sides would seek peaceful reunification.
4. What came of that peace effort?
Negotiations -- known as the “six-party talks” -- broke down in 2008 after North Korea refused to allow international inspectors to visit nuclear facilities. Around the same time, South Korea elected a conservative president, Lee Myung-bak, who favored a harder line and abandoned his predecessor’s so-called "Sunshine Policy" toward North Korea. The sinking of a South Korean corvette, killing 46 sailors, by a suspected North Korean torpedo prompted the newly elected president to cut off all ties.
5. Would peace lead to economic ties?
Not necessarily. South Korea would be unlikely to agree to economic aid until the U.S. agrees to relax sanctions in return for North Korea agreeing to denuclearize. Those figure to be among the major issues for U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim at their planned meeting in the next couple of months.
6. How far apart are the two Koreas economically?
The gap between the North Korea and South Korea today is far greater than that between East and West Germany when the Berlin Wall came down. A 2015 report from the National Assembly Budget Office estimated that even under a peaceful scenario in which Seoul expanded humanitarian support ahead of a hypothetical reunification in 2026, it could cost about $2.8 trillion to help bring North Korea’s gross domestic product to two-thirds that of South Korea’s. That’s almost 8 times South Korea’s 2017 annual budget.
The Reference Shelf
The two Koreas are worlds apart after seven decades of separation.
QuickTakes on the upcoming Trump-Kim meeting and North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
Will Kim give up his nukes? History says no.
A North Korea deal must go beyond economics, writes Bloomberg View’s Michael Schuman.
A Bloomberg infographic considers the range of North Korea’s missile threat.
North Korea’s 10 deadliest provocations since the Korean War.
— With assistance by Peter Pae
By David Tweed
April 27, 2018, 10:25 PM GMT+10
From
Two Koreas Agree to End War, Pursue Denuclearization
As neighborly disputes go, this one really has dragged on. Some 65 years since open hostilities ended, North and South Korea are still technically at war. However, after a sudden warming of relations this year, Kim Jong Un became the first North Korean leader to visit South Korea on April 27. He held talks with his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, together reaching an agreement to put an end to hostilities this year.
1. Why is the Korean War still not over?
Because the parties involved in talks to end the war -- North and South Korea, China and the United Nations (representing the international community, including the U.S.) -- never were able to agree on a peace treaty. What was signed in 1953 was only an armistice, or truce, and only among three of the four parties, as South Korea held out. That’s why the border between the two nations has been one of the world’s tensest for decades.
2. What did Kim and Moon agree on?
They announced plans to formally declare a resolution to the war and turn the current armistice into a peace treaty by year’s end, as well as aiming for full denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Moon and Kim talk in the truce village of Panmunjom.Source: Inter-Korean Summit Press Corps/Pool via Bloomberg
3. Have the two countries come close to peace before?
It’s seemed that way. At a 2007 summit in Pyongyang, President Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Jong Il (Kim Jong Un’s father) settled on dozens of agreements aimed at supporting North Korea’s economy and recommitted to a declaration made at a summit in 2000 -- the first between leaders of North Korea and South Korea -- that the two sides would seek peaceful reunification.
4. What came of that peace effort?
Negotiations -- known as the “six-party talks” -- broke down in 2008 after North Korea refused to allow international inspectors to visit nuclear facilities. Around the same time, South Korea elected a conservative president, Lee Myung-bak, who favored a harder line and abandoned his predecessor’s so-called "Sunshine Policy" toward North Korea. The sinking of a South Korean corvette, killing 46 sailors, by a suspected North Korean torpedo prompted the newly elected president to cut off all ties.
5. Would peace lead to economic ties?
Not necessarily. South Korea would be unlikely to agree to economic aid until the U.S. agrees to relax sanctions in return for North Korea agreeing to denuclearize. Those figure to be among the major issues for U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim at their planned meeting in the next couple of months.
6. How far apart are the two Koreas economically?
The gap between the North Korea and South Korea today is far greater than that between East and West Germany when the Berlin Wall came down. A 2015 report from the National Assembly Budget Office estimated that even under a peaceful scenario in which Seoul expanded humanitarian support ahead of a hypothetical reunification in 2026, it could cost about $2.8 trillion to help bring North Korea’s gross domestic product to two-thirds that of South Korea’s. That’s almost 8 times South Korea’s 2017 annual budget.
The Reference Shelf
The two Koreas are worlds apart after seven decades of separation.
QuickTakes on the upcoming Trump-Kim meeting and North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
Will Kim give up his nukes? History says no.
A North Korea deal must go beyond economics, writes Bloomberg View’s Michael Schuman.
A Bloomberg infographic considers the range of North Korea’s missile threat.
North Korea’s 10 deadliest provocations since the Korean War.
— With assistance by Peter Pae
Comedian's Sarah Sanders 'roast' stuns White House Correspondents' Dinner - BBC News
Comedian's Sarah Sanders 'roast' stuns White House Correspondents' Dinner
29 April 2018
Comedian Michelle Wolf tore into Sarah Sanders as she sat about a metre away
It is an American press tradition that goes back decades: the US president endures a friendly ribbing in front of an audience of journalists, all in the name of charity.
But with Donald Trump skipping the White House Correspondents' Dinner for the second year running, the honour of attending this year went to his press secretary, Sarah Sanders.
Sanders said the president had encouraged his staff to attend, and that she thought it was "important for us to be here".
After enduring biting mockery from comedian Michelle Wolf, she looked as though she might be regretting the choice.
Many administration officials, including the president himself, became the butt of the joke. (Trump tweeted the following morning that he thought the event was "boring" and that Wolf "bombed".)
Media captionHost Michelle Wolf: "Trump, I don't think you're very rich"
But the onslaught against Sanders, sitting on the head table, left onlookers arguing about whether Wolf had gone too far, or whether her comments were justified.
'Aunt Lydia'
In a 'roast' that drew both laughs and gasps, Wolf started by saying: "We are graced with Sarah's presence tonight. I have to say I'm a little star struck."
The former Daily Show contributor then compared the press secretary to the matronly but terrifying disciplinarian in the TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood's most famous dystopian novel.
"I love you as Aunt Lydia in 'The Handmaid's Tale'," Wolf told Sanders.
Skip Twitter post by @maydaymindy9
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Mayday Mindy 🌊
@maydaymindy9
Best moment of the night! 👏
Sarah Huckabee Sanders - Aunt Lydia
Thank you Michelle Wolf
#WHCD @SarahHuckabee #piginpearls @HandmaidsOnHulu #MeToo #TheResistance
1:03 PM - Apr 29, 2018 · Churchville, PA
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The comedian caused more controversy with a quip referring to her make-up: "I actually really like Sarah. I think she's very resourceful. But she burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye.
"Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's lies. It's probably lies."
Read our coverage of previous dinners
Trump attacks media after snubbing dinner
US comedian Hasan Minhaj targets Trump at 2017 dinner
President Obama pokes fun at himself
Maggie Haberman, White House correspondent for the New York Times (which stopped attending the event in 2008), questioned Wolf's attack on the press secretary's appearance.
Skip Twitter post by @maggieNYT
Maggie Haberman
✔
@maggieNYT
That @PressSec sat and absorbed intense criticism of her physical appearance, her job performance, and so forth, instead of walking out, on national television, was impressive.
1:14 PM - Apr 29, 2018
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Another Twitter user wrote: "Shame on her! How dare she go after her looks and character. What happened to women power and women stick together?
"I guess that only happens when you are on the same side of the isle. I hope she never works again!"
'Solid, cutting jokes'
After her routine, Wolf said she was commenting on Sanders' "despicable behaviour" rather than her looks.
But others watching said it showed Mr Trump, who has called the media "the enemy of the American people", was right not to attend the event.
"This is disgusting, unfunny, and exactly why most of America dislikes the media," wrote one critic on social media.
Comedian Tim Young suggested media mockery of Mr Trump was fuelling support for him.
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Tim Young
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@TimRunsHisMouth
FYI: The hatred and divisiveness coming out tonight toward Trump/Sarah Sanders thanks to Michelle Wolf's #WHCD monologue is why Trump will win again in 2020.
1:36 PM - Apr 29, 2018
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But other correspondents and comedians watching, such as New York Times commentator Wajahat Ali, said the press secretary was fair game.
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Wajahat Ali
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@WajahatAli
I sae all the jokes Michelle Wolf made about Sarah Huckabee Sanders. You guys...really? You're offended for Sarah? Are you kidding me? It was 90 seconds. And Wolff held back. They were solid, cutting jokes. Sarah can dish it, so she should be able to take it. For 90 seconds.
3:26 PM - Apr 29, 2018
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Kumail Nanjani, actor and co-writer of the film The Big Sick, said Sanders did not deserve any pity.
The White House has caused controversy with attacks on immigrants and been accused of fuelling racism.
Sanders has been accused of dodging questions and even lying for the president in connection with the investigation into alleged Russian interference in his 2016 campaign.
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Kumail Nanjiani
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@kumailn
They call you liars. They call Mexicans rapists. They call Muslims murderers. They support white supremacists. But someone calls them out on what they do, & suddenly they’re heroes for not walking out. https://twitter.com/maggienyt/status/990428993542414336 …
1:39 PM - Apr 29, 2018
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Columnist Mehdi Hasan also pointed to allegations against the president - including multiple claims of sexual harassment, which he denies.
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Mehdi Hasan
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@mehdirhasan
Sarah Huckabee Sanders works for, lies for, a guy accused of sexually assaulting more than a dozen women, one of whom he suggested he couldn’t have assaulted because she wasn’t good looking enough. Yet we’re supposed to have a pity party for SHS because of a #WHCD roast? Really?
2:30 PM - Apr 29, 2018
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The row also ignited a debate about freedom of speech.
New York Times correspondent Peter Baker suggested comedy was not suitable for a journalism event. But comedian Kathy Griffin said journalism was "all about the 1st amendment" and that Wolf's commentary was vital.
'A disgrace'
Sanders is certainly not the first Trump press secretary to be mocked in front of the world's media.
Her beleaguered predecessor Sean Spicer was roundly ridiculed on many occasions, including on the comedy show Saturday Night Live.
His explanation of the word "covfefe" in a tweet by Mr Trump sparked incredulity.
"The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant," Spicer said.
But he said the jokes at Saturday's White House Correspondents' Dinner went too far - not that Wolf was apologising.
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Sean Spicer
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Tonight’s #WHCD was a disgrace
1:19 PM - Apr 29, 2018 · Washington, DC
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Thank you! https://twitter.com/seanspicer/status/990430460508549120 …
1:29 PM - Apr 29, 2018
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29 April 2018
Comedian Michelle Wolf tore into Sarah Sanders as she sat about a metre away
It is an American press tradition that goes back decades: the US president endures a friendly ribbing in front of an audience of journalists, all in the name of charity.
But with Donald Trump skipping the White House Correspondents' Dinner for the second year running, the honour of attending this year went to his press secretary, Sarah Sanders.
Sanders said the president had encouraged his staff to attend, and that she thought it was "important for us to be here".
After enduring biting mockery from comedian Michelle Wolf, she looked as though she might be regretting the choice.
Many administration officials, including the president himself, became the butt of the joke. (Trump tweeted the following morning that he thought the event was "boring" and that Wolf "bombed".)
Media captionHost Michelle Wolf: "Trump, I don't think you're very rich"
But the onslaught against Sanders, sitting on the head table, left onlookers arguing about whether Wolf had gone too far, or whether her comments were justified.
'Aunt Lydia'
In a 'roast' that drew both laughs and gasps, Wolf started by saying: "We are graced with Sarah's presence tonight. I have to say I'm a little star struck."
The former Daily Show contributor then compared the press secretary to the matronly but terrifying disciplinarian in the TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood's most famous dystopian novel.
"I love you as Aunt Lydia in 'The Handmaid's Tale'," Wolf told Sanders.
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View image on TwitterView image on Twitter
Mayday Mindy 🌊
@maydaymindy9
Best moment of the night! 👏
Sarah Huckabee Sanders - Aunt Lydia
Thank you Michelle Wolf
#WHCD @SarahHuckabee #piginpearls @HandmaidsOnHulu #MeToo #TheResistance
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The comedian caused more controversy with a quip referring to her make-up: "I actually really like Sarah. I think she's very resourceful. But she burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye.
"Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's lies. It's probably lies."
Read our coverage of previous dinners
Trump attacks media after snubbing dinner
US comedian Hasan Minhaj targets Trump at 2017 dinner
President Obama pokes fun at himself
Maggie Haberman, White House correspondent for the New York Times (which stopped attending the event in 2008), questioned Wolf's attack on the press secretary's appearance.
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Maggie Haberman
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@maggieNYT
That @PressSec sat and absorbed intense criticism of her physical appearance, her job performance, and so forth, instead of walking out, on national television, was impressive.
1:14 PM - Apr 29, 2018
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Another Twitter user wrote: "Shame on her! How dare she go after her looks and character. What happened to women power and women stick together?
"I guess that only happens when you are on the same side of the isle. I hope she never works again!"
'Solid, cutting jokes'
After her routine, Wolf said she was commenting on Sanders' "despicable behaviour" rather than her looks.
But others watching said it showed Mr Trump, who has called the media "the enemy of the American people", was right not to attend the event.
"This is disgusting, unfunny, and exactly why most of America dislikes the media," wrote one critic on social media.
Comedian Tim Young suggested media mockery of Mr Trump was fuelling support for him.
Skip Twitter post by @TimRunsHisMouth
Tim Young
✔
@TimRunsHisMouth
FYI: The hatred and divisiveness coming out tonight toward Trump/Sarah Sanders thanks to Michelle Wolf's #WHCD monologue is why Trump will win again in 2020.
1:36 PM - Apr 29, 2018
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End of Twitter post by @TimRunsHisMouth
But other correspondents and comedians watching, such as New York Times commentator Wajahat Ali, said the press secretary was fair game.
Skip Twitter post by @WajahatAli
Wajahat Ali
✔
@WajahatAli
I sae all the jokes Michelle Wolf made about Sarah Huckabee Sanders. You guys...really? You're offended for Sarah? Are you kidding me? It was 90 seconds. And Wolff held back. They were solid, cutting jokes. Sarah can dish it, so she should be able to take it. For 90 seconds.
3:26 PM - Apr 29, 2018
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End of Twitter post by @WajahatAli
Kumail Nanjani, actor and co-writer of the film The Big Sick, said Sanders did not deserve any pity.
The White House has caused controversy with attacks on immigrants and been accused of fuelling racism.
Sanders has been accused of dodging questions and even lying for the president in connection with the investigation into alleged Russian interference in his 2016 campaign.
Skip Twitter post by @kumailn
Kumail Nanjiani
✔
@kumailn
They call you liars. They call Mexicans rapists. They call Muslims murderers. They support white supremacists. But someone calls them out on what they do, & suddenly they’re heroes for not walking out. https://twitter.com/maggienyt/status/990428993542414336 …
1:39 PM - Apr 29, 2018
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Columnist Mehdi Hasan also pointed to allegations against the president - including multiple claims of sexual harassment, which he denies.
Skip Twitter post by @mehdirhasan
Mehdi Hasan
✔
@mehdirhasan
Sarah Huckabee Sanders works for, lies for, a guy accused of sexually assaulting more than a dozen women, one of whom he suggested he couldn’t have assaulted because she wasn’t good looking enough. Yet we’re supposed to have a pity party for SHS because of a #WHCD roast? Really?
2:30 PM - Apr 29, 2018
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End of Twitter post by @mehdirhasan
The row also ignited a debate about freedom of speech.
New York Times correspondent Peter Baker suggested comedy was not suitable for a journalism event. But comedian Kathy Griffin said journalism was "all about the 1st amendment" and that Wolf's commentary was vital.
'A disgrace'
Sanders is certainly not the first Trump press secretary to be mocked in front of the world's media.
Her beleaguered predecessor Sean Spicer was roundly ridiculed on many occasions, including on the comedy show Saturday Night Live.
His explanation of the word "covfefe" in a tweet by Mr Trump sparked incredulity.
"The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant," Spicer said.
But he said the jokes at Saturday's White House Correspondents' Dinner went too far - not that Wolf was apologising.
Skip Twitter post by @seanspicer
Sean Spicer
✔
@seanspicer
Tonight’s #WHCD was a disgrace
1:19 PM - Apr 29, 2018 · Washington, DC
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Skip Twitter post by @michelleisawolf
Michelle Wolf
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Thank you! https://twitter.com/seanspicer/status/990430460508549120 …
1:29 PM - Apr 29, 2018
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North Korea: Chinese foreign minister to visit Pyongyang after historic talks - BBC News
April 30, 2018
North Korea: Chinese foreign minister to visit Pyongyang after historic talks
The two Korean leaders have agreed to begin "a new age of peace"
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is to visit North Korea this week, after historic talks between the North and South last Friday.
The trip comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity following the landmark day on the peninsula.
China is North Korea's only remaining economic ally, but this will be its highest level visit there in years.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to meet US President Donald Trump in the coming weeks.
South Korea has already spoken to the leaders of US and Japan.
According to Beijing, Mr Wang's visit on Wednesday and Thursday is being made at the invitation of the government in Pyongyang.
In March, Mr Kim made a surprise visit to Beijing to see President Xi Jinping, his first international trip since taking office, underlining the importance to Pyongyang of its relationship with China.
Why Xi's still the one for Kim to see
Historic Korean talks
On Friday, the North Korean leader and the South's President Moon Jae-in agreed at a historic summit to "completely cease all hostile acts against each other" and to work towards denuclearising the Korean peninsula.
The moment Kim Jong-un crossed into South Korea
The meeting followed months of warlike rhetoric and missile tests from the North.
The commitment to denuclearisation talks about the goal of "a nuclear-free Korean peninsula". It does not explicitly refer to North Korea halting its nuclear activities. South Korea does not have its own nuclear weapons, but is militarily backed by the US, which has tens of thousands of troops stationed there.
According to Seoul, North Korea promised to close its atomic test site next month and invite US weapons experts to the country - a promise not included in the joint declaration from the summit.
North Korea has in the past argued it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against aggression from outside, especially the US.
Mr Kim and Mr Moon said they would also pursue talks with the US and China to formally end the Korean War, which ended in 1953 with a truce, not formal peace.
Friday's summit also prepared the way for direct talks between Mr Kim and US President Donald Trump.
Mr Trump has since said talks with North Korea could take place "over the next three or four weeks".
Many analysts, however, remain sceptical about the North's sudden enthusiasm for engagement.
Will historic Koreas summit lead to peace?
Five conflicts that continued after they ended
N Korea nuclear test site 'to shut in May'
Welcoming Kim with pomp and peace rituals
New time zone for a new era
Also on Monday, South Korea said it would take down its loudspeakers which have historically blasted propaganda into the North over the border.
A defence ministry spokesman said it was a "rudimentary" step to help build trust between the Koreas, the Yonhap news agency reports.
The loudspeakers had already been turned off ahead of Friday's summit.
Among the announcements on Friday, Pyongyang said it would change its time zone to run in sync with the South again "as a first practical step for national reconciliation and unity".
The current Northern time zone - 30 minutes behind the South - was created in 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese occupation after World War Two.
According to North Korean state media, Mr Kim said it was "a painful wrench" to see clocks showing different times on the wall during the summit.
North Korea: Chinese foreign minister to visit Pyongyang after historic talks
The two Korean leaders have agreed to begin "a new age of peace"
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is to visit North Korea this week, after historic talks between the North and South last Friday.
The trip comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity following the landmark day on the peninsula.
China is North Korea's only remaining economic ally, but this will be its highest level visit there in years.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to meet US President Donald Trump in the coming weeks.
South Korea has already spoken to the leaders of US and Japan.
According to Beijing, Mr Wang's visit on Wednesday and Thursday is being made at the invitation of the government in Pyongyang.
In March, Mr Kim made a surprise visit to Beijing to see President Xi Jinping, his first international trip since taking office, underlining the importance to Pyongyang of its relationship with China.
Why Xi's still the one for Kim to see
Historic Korean talks
On Friday, the North Korean leader and the South's President Moon Jae-in agreed at a historic summit to "completely cease all hostile acts against each other" and to work towards denuclearising the Korean peninsula.
The moment Kim Jong-un crossed into South Korea
The meeting followed months of warlike rhetoric and missile tests from the North.
The commitment to denuclearisation talks about the goal of "a nuclear-free Korean peninsula". It does not explicitly refer to North Korea halting its nuclear activities. South Korea does not have its own nuclear weapons, but is militarily backed by the US, which has tens of thousands of troops stationed there.
According to Seoul, North Korea promised to close its atomic test site next month and invite US weapons experts to the country - a promise not included in the joint declaration from the summit.
North Korea has in the past argued it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against aggression from outside, especially the US.
Mr Kim and Mr Moon said they would also pursue talks with the US and China to formally end the Korean War, which ended in 1953 with a truce, not formal peace.
Friday's summit also prepared the way for direct talks between Mr Kim and US President Donald Trump.
Mr Trump has since said talks with North Korea could take place "over the next three or four weeks".
Many analysts, however, remain sceptical about the North's sudden enthusiasm for engagement.
Will historic Koreas summit lead to peace?
Five conflicts that continued after they ended
N Korea nuclear test site 'to shut in May'
Welcoming Kim with pomp and peace rituals
New time zone for a new era
Also on Monday, South Korea said it would take down its loudspeakers which have historically blasted propaganda into the North over the border.
A defence ministry spokesman said it was a "rudimentary" step to help build trust between the Koreas, the Yonhap news agency reports.
The loudspeakers had already been turned off ahead of Friday's summit.
Among the announcements on Friday, Pyongyang said it would change its time zone to run in sync with the South again "as a first practical step for national reconciliation and unity".
The current Northern time zone - 30 minutes behind the South - was created in 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese occupation after World War Two.
According to North Korean state media, Mr Kim said it was "a painful wrench" to see clocks showing different times on the wall during the summit.
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