What does the International Criminal Court do?
25 June 2015
The International Criminal Court in The Hague has been part of the global justice system since 2002, but its concentration on African issues has led to accusations of bias.
The Rome Statute which established the court has been ratified by 123 countries, but the US is a notable absence.
What is the court designed to do?
To prosecute and bring to justice those responsible for the worst crimes - genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The court has global jurisdiction.
It is a court of last resort, intervening only when national authorities cannot or will not prosecute.
Aren't there already several international courts?
Yes, but they either do different jobs or have a limited remit.
The International Court of Justice (sometimes called the World Court) rules on disputes between governments but cannot prosecute individuals.
Image copyrightAFP
Image caption
Fatou Bensouda (R), from Gambia, became the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC in 2012
The international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda have tried individuals for crimes against humanity, but only if they were committed in those territories over a specified period.
Unlike the international tribunals, the International Criminal Court is a permanent body.
Are there any time limits on what it covers?
The court has no retrospective jurisdiction - it can only deal with crimes committed after 1 July 2002 when the Rome Statute came into force.
Additionally, the court has automatic jurisdiction only for crimes committed on the territory of a state which has ratified the treaty; or by a citizen of such a state; or when the United Nations Security Council refers a case to it.
What kind of cases does the court pursue?
The court's first verdict, in March 2012, was against Thomas Lubanga, the leader of a militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was convicted of war crimes relating to the use of children in that country's conflict and sentenced in July to 14 years.
The highest profile person to be brought to the ICC is Ivory Coast's former President Laurent Gbagbo, who was charged in 2011 with murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution and "other inhumane acts".
Other notable cases included charges of crimes against humanity against Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was indicted in 2011 in connection with post-election ethnic violence in 2007-08, in which 1,200 people died. The ICC dropped the charges against Mr Kenyatta in December 2014.
Joseph Kony, the leader of the Uganda-based Lords Resistance Army, is among those wanted by the ICC
Among those wanted by the ICC are leaders of Uganda's rebel movement, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), which is active in northern Uganda, north-eastern DR Congo and South Sudan. Its leader Joseph Kony is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, including abduction of thousands of children.
The court has an outstanding arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir - the first against a serving head of state. When Mr Bashir - who faces three counts of genocide, two counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity - attended a African Union summit in South Africa in June 2015, a South African court ordered that he be prevented from leaving the country while it decided whether he should be arrested under the ICC warrant.
The South African government allowed Mr Bashir to leave and in the fallout a judge angrily accused the government of ignoring the constitution. The government in turn threatened to leave the ICC.
In 2015, the ICC began a preliminary investigation into the 2014 Gaza conflict. The Palestinian Authority submitted evidence to the court in June of what it claims were war crimes committed by the Israeli military. A UN report found evidence of war crimes by both Palestinian militant group Hamas and the Israeli military.
Alleged African bias
The ICC has been criticised, particularly by the African Union, for its focus on Africa. In the court's 11-year history it has only brought charges against black Africans.
The ICC denies any bias, pointing to the fact that some cases - such as the LRA in Uganda - were self-referred by the country affected, and some were referred by the UN.
Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor of the ICC, who is Gambian, has argued that the ICC is helping Africa by its prosecutions of criminals.
"The ICC is working with Africa, and working for African victims, so I don't think the African Union should be against that," she said.
How can the court secure the arrest and trial of suspects?
The ICC has no police force of its own to track down and arrest suspects. Instead it must rely on national police services to make arrests and seek their transfer to The Hague.
The case of Mr Bashir illustrates the problem this can present for the court. Several ICC signatory countries, including Chad and Kenya, have refused to co-operate in his arrest.
Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan, is wanted by the ICC in connection with war crimes
A South African court did order that he be prevented from leaving the country, only for the government to override the order.
The African Union has instructed members not to carry out the ICC arrest warrant against him while it conducts its own investigation.
How does the system work?
The prosecutor begins an investigation if a case is referred either by the UN Security Council or by a ratifying state.
He or she can also take independent action, but prosecutions have to be approved by a panel of judges.
Both the prosecutor and the judges are elected by the states taking part in the court. Luis Moreno Ocampo of Argentina was the first chief prosecutor of the court. He has been replaced by Ms Bensouda.
Each state has a right to nominate one candidate for election as a judge.
Who has agreed to co-operate with the court?
The Rome Treaty has been ratified by 121 states so far, meaning they have bound themselves to co-operate. A further 34 have signed and may ratify it in the future.
Only one Arab state has ratified so far - Jordan.
Why isn't the United States involved?
During negotiations, the US argued that its soldiers might be the subject of politically motivated or frivolous prosecutions.
Various safeguards were introduced, and Bill Clinton did eventually sign the treaty in one of his last acts as president but it was never ratified by Congress.
The Bush administration was adamantly opposed to the court and to any dilution of US sovereignty in criminal justice, and the US threatened to pull its troops out of the UN force in Bosnia unless they were given immunity from prosecution by the ICC.
Among the crimes prosecuted by the ICC is the abduction of children who are forced to fight
In a much-criticised decision, the UN Security Council voted on 12 July 2002 on a compromise that gave US troops a 12-month exemption from prosecution - renewed annually.
But the Security Council - prompted by then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan - refused to renew the exemption in June 2004, two months after pictures of US troops abusing Iraqi prisoners shocked the world.
The court's operation is seen as weakened without US involvement. However, Washington has not ruled out co-operation with the court in particular cases.
Are there other dissenters?
Yes, a number of important countries seem determined not to submit to the jurisdiction of the ICC. Some have not even signed the treaty, such as China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Turkey.
The ICC's first verdict was against Thomas Lubanga, the leader of a militia in Democratic Republic of Congo
Others, including Egypt, Iran, Israel and Russia, have signed but remain dubious and have not ratified.
It is unlikely that alleged crimes against humanity in those states will be prosecuted.
How does the ICC fit in with each nation's judicial system?
States that join the treaty may want to make sure that they themselves are able to prosecute all the crimes that it covers - otherwise the court may intervene.
Some governments have already introduced legislation to make changes to their own judicial systems.
Who is paying?
The states which take part. This will be according to the same rules that govern their contributions to the UN - roughly based on their national wealth.
The absence of the US in particular makes funding of the court more expensive for others.
Japan, Germany, France and Britain are among the the largest contributors.
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Philippines drugs war: Duterte to withdraw from ICC - BBC News
14/3/2018
Philippines drugs war: Duterte to withdraw from ICC
Rodrigo Duterte came to power in 2016 promising a crackdown on drug dealers
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has said he plans to withdraw his country from the International Criminal Court (ICC) after it began examining the country's drugs war.
"It is apparent that the ICC is being utilised as a political tool against the Philippines," Mr Duterte said.
He also condemned "baseless" attacks by the UN.
The ICC in February began examining alleged crimes committed during the controversial anti-drugs crackdown.
ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said the court would be looking at reports of extrajudicial killings.
Profile: Duterte the 'strongman' of the Philippines
Burundi first to quit international court
'Outrageous attacks'
Mr Duterte said he would leave the ICC "immediately", but the court says the process takes a year after an official notice of withdrawal.
A statement from the Philippine administration said the ICC inquiry was "in violation of due process".
The president also condemned "baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks" on him and his administration by the UN.
Media captionMr Duterte has compared himself to Adolf Hitler in the past
"The acts allegedly committed by me are neither genocide nor war crimes. The deaths occurring in the process of legitimate police operations lacked the intent to kill."
The statement contradicts some of Mr Duterte's previous comments about the drugs war, including his willingness to "slaughter" drug addicts and dealers.
There has been growing international pressure on Mr Duterte about his country's war on drugs, which has caused the deaths of thousands.
Duterte confirms he killed three men
Duterte: I threw suspect from helicopter
Filipino leader says he killed as a teen
Police claim they have killed around 4,000 drugs suspects, while rights groups suggest the figure could be far higher.
Ms Bensouda first said she was "deeply concerned" about reports of extrajudicial killings in October 2016, less than four months after Mr Duterte assumed office on a pledge to crack down on drug dealers.
And last month, as the ICC announced its preliminary inquiry, the UN Human Rights Council questioned the Philippines' human rights record and called on the country to accept a UN special rapporteur.
Harry Roque, a spokesperson for President Duterte, said in response that the ICC lacked jurisdiction over the case, calling the ICC a "court of last resort".
The court can only intervene when national authorities cannot or will not act. It has no police force of its own, and must rely on local powers to arrest and bring suspects to them.
While in theory withdrawal would not stop the court's inquiry into alleged crimes committed while the Philippines was a member, it could prove difficult to make local authorities co-operate.
There are currently 123 parties to the ICC, including the Philippines. The US has not ratified the treaty, while countries like China, India and Turkey have never signed it.
On Monday, local media reported that the Philippine Senate had filed a resolution saying the country's withdrawal from international treaties would only be valid with its consent.
The country's constitution states that adoption of an international treaty cannot be revoked without the support of both president and Senate.
Philippines drugs war: Duterte to withdraw from ICC
Rodrigo Duterte came to power in 2016 promising a crackdown on drug dealers
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has said he plans to withdraw his country from the International Criminal Court (ICC) after it began examining the country's drugs war.
"It is apparent that the ICC is being utilised as a political tool against the Philippines," Mr Duterte said.
He also condemned "baseless" attacks by the UN.
The ICC in February began examining alleged crimes committed during the controversial anti-drugs crackdown.
ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said the court would be looking at reports of extrajudicial killings.
Profile: Duterte the 'strongman' of the Philippines
Burundi first to quit international court
'Outrageous attacks'
Mr Duterte said he would leave the ICC "immediately", but the court says the process takes a year after an official notice of withdrawal.
A statement from the Philippine administration said the ICC inquiry was "in violation of due process".
The president also condemned "baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks" on him and his administration by the UN.
Media captionMr Duterte has compared himself to Adolf Hitler in the past
"The acts allegedly committed by me are neither genocide nor war crimes. The deaths occurring in the process of legitimate police operations lacked the intent to kill."
The statement contradicts some of Mr Duterte's previous comments about the drugs war, including his willingness to "slaughter" drug addicts and dealers.
There has been growing international pressure on Mr Duterte about his country's war on drugs, which has caused the deaths of thousands.
Duterte confirms he killed three men
Duterte: I threw suspect from helicopter
Filipino leader says he killed as a teen
Police claim they have killed around 4,000 drugs suspects, while rights groups suggest the figure could be far higher.
Ms Bensouda first said she was "deeply concerned" about reports of extrajudicial killings in October 2016, less than four months after Mr Duterte assumed office on a pledge to crack down on drug dealers.
And last month, as the ICC announced its preliminary inquiry, the UN Human Rights Council questioned the Philippines' human rights record and called on the country to accept a UN special rapporteur.
Harry Roque, a spokesperson for President Duterte, said in response that the ICC lacked jurisdiction over the case, calling the ICC a "court of last resort".
The court can only intervene when national authorities cannot or will not act. It has no police force of its own, and must rely on local powers to arrest and bring suspects to them.
While in theory withdrawal would not stop the court's inquiry into alleged crimes committed while the Philippines was a member, it could prove difficult to make local authorities co-operate.
There are currently 123 parties to the ICC, including the Philippines. The US has not ratified the treaty, while countries like China, India and Turkey have never signed it.
On Monday, local media reported that the Philippine Senate had filed a resolution saying the country's withdrawal from international treaties would only be valid with its consent.
The country's constitution states that adoption of an international treaty cannot be revoked without the support of both president and Senate.
Pompeo Gives Trump an Ally on Iran Deal, But Only in Washington - Bloomberg
Pompeo Gives Trump an Ally on Iran Deal, But Only in Washington
By
March 14, 2018, 3:00 PM GMT+11
At State, he’ll amplify president’s hostility to nuclear pact
But former CIA boss faces uphill task persuading Europeans
Mike Pompeo Photographer: Zach Gibson/Bloomberg
Rex Tillerson argued that the Iran nuclear deal isn’t broken, one reason he just got fired. His successor has less than two months to fix it.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, agrees with his boss’s conviction that the 2015 accord is a disaster. The question is whether that stance makes him more or less likely to win some international backing for America’s campaign to rewrite the deal. Tillerson’s efforts in that direction yielded few results -- and if there’s no progress by May 12, the president has threatened a unilateral withdrawal.
“The Trump administration with Pompeo at the State Department has to mobilize the international community against Iran,” said Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington. “There is absolutely zero sign that is happening.”
The agreement that reins in Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief was a global effort, backed by all the world’s major powers from the European Union to Russia and China. Its breakdown as a result of U.S. withdrawal could add to tensions in the Middle East, where Iran and the U.S. are on opposite sides of civil wars in Syria and Yemen, and further strain the Trump administration’s ties with America’s traditional allies in Europe.
Trump Shuffles Team by Firing Tillerson and Tapping CIA’s Pompeo
Tillerson certainly wasn’t a cheerleader for the nuclear accord, and he sought to win backing for new sanctions that would punish Iran for other activities such as its missile program. But ultimately he pushed for the U.S. to stay in the deal. And Trump even cited that support in the hours after his public firing.
‘Break It’
“When you look at the Iran deal, I think it’s terrible,” Trump told reporters at the White House Tuesday. “I guess he thought it was OK. I wanted to either break it or do something, and he felt a little bit differently.”
Pompeo, by contrast, has been a vocal opponent all along. Even after the pact was signed, he warned European leaders that it still wasn’t safe to invest in Iran. Trump and Pompeo complain that Iran hasn’t curtailed its ballistic missile program, or its support for groups classified by the U.S. as terrorists. Iran says such matters fall outside the nuclear deal’s scope.
“Pompeo is a strong opponent of the Iran nuclear deal, and rather than moderate the president’s approach, there’s concern that he will reinforce those views,” said Thomas Countryman, an assistant secretary of state when the accord was signed during the Obama administration.
Watch a video on the risks of breaking the Iran nuclear deal
“If that results in the U.S. walking out of the Iran deal, it would be a setback for our credibility and our interests in the Middle East and in non-proliferation,” Countryman said.
Bill Rhodes discusses the firing of Rex Tillerson and weighs in on U.S. and China relations.
(Source: Bloomberg)
’Language of Force’
In his current job as head of the Central Intelligence Agency, Pompeo has made it his mission to roll back Iranian influence in the Middle East. The idea that the nuclear agreement “would curtail Iranian adventurism, the terror threat, or their malignant behavior has proven to be fundamentally false,” he said in October.
The arrival of an Iran hawk at the State Department will likely strengthen the position of Pompeo’s hardline counterparts in Tehran, according to Fouad Izadi, professor of American Studies at the University of Tehran. They’ll view the appointment as another reason not to trust the U.S., and make it more difficult for President Hassan Rouhani to make any concessions on Iran’s ballistic missiles or regional role, Izadi said.
“The North Korean model becomes more attractive for Iranian officials, whereby you negotiate from a position of strength, you don’t give anything to the U.S., and you only talk to them with the language of force,” he said.
‘Tremendous Pressure’
But Iran’s leaders have internal strains to address too, after the biggest anti-government demonstrations in a decade rocked the country in December and January. The unrest was initially focused on economic problems, but escalated to address issues from the lack of political accountability to Iran’s costly foreign commitments in countries like Syria.
That means there’s a chance for a tough Trump-Pompeo strategy to work, if European Union countries can be persuaded to apply pressure just when Iran’s vulnerable, according to Alireza Nader, chief executive of Nader Research Group, an Iran-focused research group based in Washington.
“The nuclear deal can still survive, if the Europeans get Iran to be flexible,” said Nader. “The Iranian regime is under tremendous internal pressure and can’t afford more economic shocks.”
— With assistance by Ladane Nasseri, and Golnar Motevalli
By
March 14, 2018, 3:00 PM GMT+11
At State, he’ll amplify president’s hostility to nuclear pact
But former CIA boss faces uphill task persuading Europeans
Mike Pompeo Photographer: Zach Gibson/Bloomberg
Rex Tillerson argued that the Iran nuclear deal isn’t broken, one reason he just got fired. His successor has less than two months to fix it.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, agrees with his boss’s conviction that the 2015 accord is a disaster. The question is whether that stance makes him more or less likely to win some international backing for America’s campaign to rewrite the deal. Tillerson’s efforts in that direction yielded few results -- and if there’s no progress by May 12, the president has threatened a unilateral withdrawal.
“The Trump administration with Pompeo at the State Department has to mobilize the international community against Iran,” said Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington. “There is absolutely zero sign that is happening.”
The agreement that reins in Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief was a global effort, backed by all the world’s major powers from the European Union to Russia and China. Its breakdown as a result of U.S. withdrawal could add to tensions in the Middle East, where Iran and the U.S. are on opposite sides of civil wars in Syria and Yemen, and further strain the Trump administration’s ties with America’s traditional allies in Europe.
Trump Shuffles Team by Firing Tillerson and Tapping CIA’s Pompeo
Tillerson certainly wasn’t a cheerleader for the nuclear accord, and he sought to win backing for new sanctions that would punish Iran for other activities such as its missile program. But ultimately he pushed for the U.S. to stay in the deal. And Trump even cited that support in the hours after his public firing.
‘Break It’
“When you look at the Iran deal, I think it’s terrible,” Trump told reporters at the White House Tuesday. “I guess he thought it was OK. I wanted to either break it or do something, and he felt a little bit differently.”
Pompeo, by contrast, has been a vocal opponent all along. Even after the pact was signed, he warned European leaders that it still wasn’t safe to invest in Iran. Trump and Pompeo complain that Iran hasn’t curtailed its ballistic missile program, or its support for groups classified by the U.S. as terrorists. Iran says such matters fall outside the nuclear deal’s scope.
“Pompeo is a strong opponent of the Iran nuclear deal, and rather than moderate the president’s approach, there’s concern that he will reinforce those views,” said Thomas Countryman, an assistant secretary of state when the accord was signed during the Obama administration.
Watch a video on the risks of breaking the Iran nuclear deal
“If that results in the U.S. walking out of the Iran deal, it would be a setback for our credibility and our interests in the Middle East and in non-proliferation,” Countryman said.
Bill Rhodes discusses the firing of Rex Tillerson and weighs in on U.S. and China relations.
(Source: Bloomberg)
’Language of Force’
In his current job as head of the Central Intelligence Agency, Pompeo has made it his mission to roll back Iranian influence in the Middle East. The idea that the nuclear agreement “would curtail Iranian adventurism, the terror threat, or their malignant behavior has proven to be fundamentally false,” he said in October.
The arrival of an Iran hawk at the State Department will likely strengthen the position of Pompeo’s hardline counterparts in Tehran, according to Fouad Izadi, professor of American Studies at the University of Tehran. They’ll view the appointment as another reason not to trust the U.S., and make it more difficult for President Hassan Rouhani to make any concessions on Iran’s ballistic missiles or regional role, Izadi said.
“The North Korean model becomes more attractive for Iranian officials, whereby you negotiate from a position of strength, you don’t give anything to the U.S., and you only talk to them with the language of force,” he said.
‘Tremendous Pressure’
But Iran’s leaders have internal strains to address too, after the biggest anti-government demonstrations in a decade rocked the country in December and January. The unrest was initially focused on economic problems, but escalated to address issues from the lack of political accountability to Iran’s costly foreign commitments in countries like Syria.
That means there’s a chance for a tough Trump-Pompeo strategy to work, if European Union countries can be persuaded to apply pressure just when Iran’s vulnerable, according to Alireza Nader, chief executive of Nader Research Group, an Iran-focused research group based in Washington.
“The nuclear deal can still survive, if the Europeans get Iran to be flexible,” said Nader. “The Iranian regime is under tremendous internal pressure and can’t afford more economic shocks.”
— With assistance by Ladane Nasseri, and Golnar Motevalli
Watch out for these red flags that can trigger a tax audit - CNBC News
Watch out for these red flags that can trigger a tax audit
Overall, just 0.7 percent of individual taxpayer returns are audited.
The more income you earn, the greater the chance your tax return could get a second look.
In addition to making sure you report all income and only take deductions and credits you qualify for, be aware that certain parts of tax returns tend to trigger more scrutiny.
Sarah O'Brien | @sarahtgobrien
Published 13/3/2018
CNBC.com
In 2016 alone, audits resulted in taxpayers forking over a collective $9.8 billion.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
In 2016 alone, audits resulted in taxpayers forking over a collective $9.8 billion.
Little can strike more fear in the heart of taxpayers than the prospect of the Internal Revenue Service questioning their tax return.
Yet, for most people, the chances of an audit are slim. Of the nearly 148 million individual tax returns filed in 2016, just 0.7 percent (about 1 million) were audited, according to the IRS.
The factor that increases your chances the most? Making a lot of money. If you earn more than $1 million, the audit rate jumps to 5.8 percent.
"This is one case where the less money you make, the better off you are," said Bill Smith, managing director at CBIZ MHM's National Tax Office in Washington.
More from Advisor Insight:
Americans go on more drunk shopping sprees
Scammed taxpayers agree to pay IRS 'debt' on iTunes cards
Market shocks should be wake-up call for investors
While getting contacted by the IRS regarding your return will not always result in owing more to Uncle Sam — sometimes it actually leads to a refund — it usually does mean you face additional taxes, according to IRS data. In 2016 alone, audits resulted in taxpayers forking over a collective $9.8 billion.
The IRS does not reveal exactly why it chooses to audit the returns it does, only overall data after the fact. So it's entirely possible to be audited for reasons that have nothing to do with common areas of recent scrutiny.
And even if you've gotten away with exaggerating deductions or unreported income in the past, don't assume your luck will last forever.
Lying about your taxes? You could face up to five years in prison Lying about your taxes? You could face up to five years in prison
22 Hours Ago | 02:09
"Sometimes the IRS can get information that shows a pattern from a taxpayer that are red flags," said April Walker, lead manager for tax practice and ethics at the American Institute of CPAs.
For instance, if successive years of outsized charitable contributions come from a taxpayer whose reported income suggests that rate of generosity would be unsustainable, it could trigger interest from the IRS.
Additionally, don't assume that even if your income level makes the chance of audit low that you're in the clear. Any large deductions and credits relative to income can cause scrutiny or require additional documentation.
And regardless of income level, there are some other things on tax returns that can grab the attention of the IRS.
"Sometimes the IRS can get information that shows a pattern from a taxpayer that are red flags."
-April Walker, Lead manager for tax practice & ethics, American Institute of CPAs
Unreported income
All those forms you receive showing income — i.e., your W-2 from work, a 1099-MISC or 1099-K reporting side income or 1099-INT showing taxable interest of $10 or more on a bank account — also go to the IRS. And if you fail to report any of those earnings, the IRS will come calling.
"If there's a discrepancy, it generates an automatic correspondence from the IRS," Walker said. "That's an easy thing for them to notice."
Even if you don't receive an official income form for work you performed, you probably still need to let the IRS know about it: If your income (after expenses) from a side gig is at least $400, you are required to report it and pay taxes on it.
Self-employment expenses
This is an area where some taxpayers take leeway in reporting costs associated with their business, whether it's a full-time endeavor or a side hustle.
The IRS says that of the $458 billion in underreported taxes 2008 through 2010, almost 60 percent of it was owed on business and self-employment income.
"Taxpayers can lack documentation for expenses," Walker said. "It's an area of scrutiny."
Audit frequency for business tax returns*
Income
Returns examined
Under $25k 0.9 percent
$25k-$100k 1.7 percent
$100k-$200k 2.2 percent
$200k or more 1.9 percent
* Returns that do not claim the earned income-tax credit
She advises keeping good records, which includes receipts from business-related purchases and a mileage log. It's also important to categorize your expenses properly on your return.
"If you put a category that says 'other' and have a lump sum instead of breaking it out by office supplies or other types of expenses, it can be a red flag," Walker said.
Remember, too, that to take the home-office deduction, the space must be used exclusively for your work. So the kitchen table does not count.
Rental losses
If you say you are a real estate professional, you had better be one.
In simple terms, losses from your rental property can be used to offset other income, such as wages, if you are a real estate professional. But to be considered as such, you must spend 750 hours a year working on that business.
"If you have a full-time job and say you also are a real estate professional, it's less likely that you actually spend that amount of time on it," Smith said. "That could trigger an audit."
Overseas accounts
If you keep money in a foreign bank account, it could potentially generate questions. Over the last seven or so years, the IRS has increased its scrutiny of taxpayer returns that include evidence of holding money overseas.
If you hold more than $50,000 in an overseas account, you must report it on Form 8938 as part of your tax return. This is separate from the so-called FBAR (Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) reporting, which is not filed as part of your tax return. Americans with more than $10,000 held overseas must file an FBAR.
Additionally, overseas banks are required to identify, to the IRS, Americans who have accounts with them.
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Failure to claim your overseas assets can result in stiff financial penalties.
For instance, if you should have filed Form 8938 and did not, the penalty could be $10,000. If you ignore your reporting responsibility after hearing from the IRS, an additional penalty of up to $50,000 could be added, along with a 40 percent penalty on an understatement of tax attributable to non-disclosed assets.
In other words, the IRS means business.
"It's getting harder and harder to hide money offshore," Smith said.
Overall, just 0.7 percent of individual taxpayer returns are audited.
The more income you earn, the greater the chance your tax return could get a second look.
In addition to making sure you report all income and only take deductions and credits you qualify for, be aware that certain parts of tax returns tend to trigger more scrutiny.
Sarah O'Brien | @sarahtgobrien
Published 13/3/2018
CNBC.com
In 2016 alone, audits resulted in taxpayers forking over a collective $9.8 billion.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
In 2016 alone, audits resulted in taxpayers forking over a collective $9.8 billion.
Little can strike more fear in the heart of taxpayers than the prospect of the Internal Revenue Service questioning their tax return.
Yet, for most people, the chances of an audit are slim. Of the nearly 148 million individual tax returns filed in 2016, just 0.7 percent (about 1 million) were audited, according to the IRS.
The factor that increases your chances the most? Making a lot of money. If you earn more than $1 million, the audit rate jumps to 5.8 percent.
"This is one case where the less money you make, the better off you are," said Bill Smith, managing director at CBIZ MHM's National Tax Office in Washington.
More from Advisor Insight:
Americans go on more drunk shopping sprees
Scammed taxpayers agree to pay IRS 'debt' on iTunes cards
Market shocks should be wake-up call for investors
While getting contacted by the IRS regarding your return will not always result in owing more to Uncle Sam — sometimes it actually leads to a refund — it usually does mean you face additional taxes, according to IRS data. In 2016 alone, audits resulted in taxpayers forking over a collective $9.8 billion.
The IRS does not reveal exactly why it chooses to audit the returns it does, only overall data after the fact. So it's entirely possible to be audited for reasons that have nothing to do with common areas of recent scrutiny.
And even if you've gotten away with exaggerating deductions or unreported income in the past, don't assume your luck will last forever.
Lying about your taxes? You could face up to five years in prison Lying about your taxes? You could face up to five years in prison
22 Hours Ago | 02:09
"Sometimes the IRS can get information that shows a pattern from a taxpayer that are red flags," said April Walker, lead manager for tax practice and ethics at the American Institute of CPAs.
For instance, if successive years of outsized charitable contributions come from a taxpayer whose reported income suggests that rate of generosity would be unsustainable, it could trigger interest from the IRS.
Additionally, don't assume that even if your income level makes the chance of audit low that you're in the clear. Any large deductions and credits relative to income can cause scrutiny or require additional documentation.
And regardless of income level, there are some other things on tax returns that can grab the attention of the IRS.
"Sometimes the IRS can get information that shows a pattern from a taxpayer that are red flags."
-April Walker, Lead manager for tax practice & ethics, American Institute of CPAs
Unreported income
All those forms you receive showing income — i.e., your W-2 from work, a 1099-MISC or 1099-K reporting side income or 1099-INT showing taxable interest of $10 or more on a bank account — also go to the IRS. And if you fail to report any of those earnings, the IRS will come calling.
"If there's a discrepancy, it generates an automatic correspondence from the IRS," Walker said. "That's an easy thing for them to notice."
Even if you don't receive an official income form for work you performed, you probably still need to let the IRS know about it: If your income (after expenses) from a side gig is at least $400, you are required to report it and pay taxes on it.
Self-employment expenses
This is an area where some taxpayers take leeway in reporting costs associated with their business, whether it's a full-time endeavor or a side hustle.
The IRS says that of the $458 billion in underreported taxes 2008 through 2010, almost 60 percent of it was owed on business and self-employment income.
"Taxpayers can lack documentation for expenses," Walker said. "It's an area of scrutiny."
Audit frequency for business tax returns*
Income
Returns examined
Under $25k 0.9 percent
$25k-$100k 1.7 percent
$100k-$200k 2.2 percent
$200k or more 1.9 percent
* Returns that do not claim the earned income-tax credit
She advises keeping good records, which includes receipts from business-related purchases and a mileage log. It's also important to categorize your expenses properly on your return.
"If you put a category that says 'other' and have a lump sum instead of breaking it out by office supplies or other types of expenses, it can be a red flag," Walker said.
Remember, too, that to take the home-office deduction, the space must be used exclusively for your work. So the kitchen table does not count.
Rental losses
If you say you are a real estate professional, you had better be one.
In simple terms, losses from your rental property can be used to offset other income, such as wages, if you are a real estate professional. But to be considered as such, you must spend 750 hours a year working on that business.
"If you have a full-time job and say you also are a real estate professional, it's less likely that you actually spend that amount of time on it," Smith said. "That could trigger an audit."
Overseas accounts
If you keep money in a foreign bank account, it could potentially generate questions. Over the last seven or so years, the IRS has increased its scrutiny of taxpayer returns that include evidence of holding money overseas.
If you hold more than $50,000 in an overseas account, you must report it on Form 8938 as part of your tax return. This is separate from the so-called FBAR (Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) reporting, which is not filed as part of your tax return. Americans with more than $10,000 held overseas must file an FBAR.
Additionally, overseas banks are required to identify, to the IRS, Americans who have accounts with them.
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Failure to claim your overseas assets can result in stiff financial penalties.
For instance, if you should have filed Form 8938 and did not, the penalty could be $10,000. If you ignore your reporting responsibility after hearing from the IRS, an additional penalty of up to $50,000 could be added, along with a 40 percent penalty on an understatement of tax attributable to non-disclosed assets.
In other words, the IRS means business.
"It's getting harder and harder to hide money offshore," Smith said.
Democrat Conor Lamb claims victory over Trump-backed Rick Saccone - Independent
14/3/2018
Pennsylvania election: Democrat Conor Lamb claims victory over Trump-backed Rick Saccone but race is too close to call
Result may hinge on yet-uncounted absentee ballots or a possible recount
Emily Shugerman New York @eshugerman
Conor Lamb, the Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District celebrates with his supporters Gene J Puskar/AP
Democrat Conor Lamb has claimed victory over Donald Trump-backed Republican Rick Saccone in a highly anticipated special election in Pennsylvania - although officials say the result is too close to call
Mr Lamb and Republican state Representative Mr Saccone are battling for the US House seat in Pennsylvania's 18th district, in what many have billed as a race that would give a strong hint about the Republican Party’s ability to hold its majority in both cambers of Congress in midterm elections in November.
While Mr Lamb has tried to play down the idea of the race being a referendum on the President Trump, there is no doubt that a Republican loss in a district the president won by 20 points in 2016 will be a blow to the White House.
“It took a little longer than we thought but we did it. You did it,” Mr Lamb told cheering supporters. However, before his rival claimed victory Mr Saccone told his supporters: "It's not over yet... We're going to fight all the way to the end."
Rick Saccone pledges to be Trump's 'wingman' as voters head to polls
Mr Lamb and Mr Saccone candidates were virtually neck-in-neck with more than 99 per cent of the votes counted and the final votes likely to be tallied in the morning.
Mr Lamb started the night with a strong lead over his opponent, which narrowed significantly over the course of the evening. He pulled strength from the liberal Allegheny county, where he lead Mr Saccone by more than 10,000 votes. But with almost all precincts reporting – and some absentee ballots still unread – the Democrat lead was around 800 votes out of more than 220,000.
Democratic sources said absentee ballots were expected to show Mr Lamb winning the election by more than 400 votes, but Mr Saccone did not concede.
Two counties – Greene and Washington – said they would likely count their absentee ballots until Wednesday. While there is no mandatory requirement for a recount, the result will likely be easily within the range where wither campaign could request, and pay for, one to be conducted.
Mr Saccone and Mr Lamb are competing for the seat vacated by Republican Representative Tim Murphy, who resigned amid a personal scandal in October. The district itself will last past the midterms in 2018 – the current Pennsylvania map was recently struck down by a court for being biased towards Republicans. But the race remains a powerful symbol for what could happen in the midterms.
Signalling the importance of the race, Mr Saccone rallied the full force of the White House to his side in the weeks before the election, making appearances with everyone from Vice President Mike Pence to Mr Trump’s son, Don Jr.
Mr Trump himself praised the candidate in a last-minute rally in Pennsylvania this weekend, calling him “a very fine human being”. Mr Saccone said in an election-day interview that he hoped to be the president’s “wingman” in Washington.
'Keep America Great': Donald Trump announces new campaign slogan
But it was unclear on Tuesday night whether tying himself to the president’s coattails would help the representative beat Mr Lamb, a Marine veteran and former prosecutor who ran an outsider campaign as a moderate Democrat.
Perhaps in an attempt to appeal to the Trump voters in Pennsylvania's 18th, Mr Lamb has repeatedly claimed the election was not about the president, but about local issues. He also steered clear of traditional Democratic issues like gun control, and expressed support for Mr Trump’s tariff plan.
The candidate surged in the polls last month, after an impressive round of fundraising in which he raked in $3.3m compared to Mr Saccone’s $703,000. Outside Republican groups rushed to make up the difference, flooding the district with $10m in funding. It remained to be seen whether their efforts paid off.
Pennsylvania election: Democrat Conor Lamb claims victory over Trump-backed Rick Saccone but race is too close to call
Result may hinge on yet-uncounted absentee ballots or a possible recount
Emily Shugerman New York @eshugerman
Conor Lamb, the Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District celebrates with his supporters Gene J Puskar/AP
Democrat Conor Lamb has claimed victory over Donald Trump-backed Republican Rick Saccone in a highly anticipated special election in Pennsylvania - although officials say the result is too close to call
Mr Lamb and Republican state Representative Mr Saccone are battling for the US House seat in Pennsylvania's 18th district, in what many have billed as a race that would give a strong hint about the Republican Party’s ability to hold its majority in both cambers of Congress in midterm elections in November.
While Mr Lamb has tried to play down the idea of the race being a referendum on the President Trump, there is no doubt that a Republican loss in a district the president won by 20 points in 2016 will be a blow to the White House.
“It took a little longer than we thought but we did it. You did it,” Mr Lamb told cheering supporters. However, before his rival claimed victory Mr Saccone told his supporters: "It's not over yet... We're going to fight all the way to the end."
Rick Saccone pledges to be Trump's 'wingman' as voters head to polls
Mr Lamb and Mr Saccone candidates were virtually neck-in-neck with more than 99 per cent of the votes counted and the final votes likely to be tallied in the morning.
Mr Lamb started the night with a strong lead over his opponent, which narrowed significantly over the course of the evening. He pulled strength from the liberal Allegheny county, where he lead Mr Saccone by more than 10,000 votes. But with almost all precincts reporting – and some absentee ballots still unread – the Democrat lead was around 800 votes out of more than 220,000.
Democratic sources said absentee ballots were expected to show Mr Lamb winning the election by more than 400 votes, but Mr Saccone did not concede.
Two counties – Greene and Washington – said they would likely count their absentee ballots until Wednesday. While there is no mandatory requirement for a recount, the result will likely be easily within the range where wither campaign could request, and pay for, one to be conducted.
Mr Saccone and Mr Lamb are competing for the seat vacated by Republican Representative Tim Murphy, who resigned amid a personal scandal in October. The district itself will last past the midterms in 2018 – the current Pennsylvania map was recently struck down by a court for being biased towards Republicans. But the race remains a powerful symbol for what could happen in the midterms.
Signalling the importance of the race, Mr Saccone rallied the full force of the White House to his side in the weeks before the election, making appearances with everyone from Vice President Mike Pence to Mr Trump’s son, Don Jr.
Mr Trump himself praised the candidate in a last-minute rally in Pennsylvania this weekend, calling him “a very fine human being”. Mr Saccone said in an election-day interview that he hoped to be the president’s “wingman” in Washington.
'Keep America Great': Donald Trump announces new campaign slogan
But it was unclear on Tuesday night whether tying himself to the president’s coattails would help the representative beat Mr Lamb, a Marine veteran and former prosecutor who ran an outsider campaign as a moderate Democrat.
Perhaps in an attempt to appeal to the Trump voters in Pennsylvania's 18th, Mr Lamb has repeatedly claimed the election was not about the president, but about local issues. He also steered clear of traditional Democratic issues like gun control, and expressed support for Mr Trump’s tariff plan.
The candidate surged in the polls last month, after an impressive round of fundraising in which he raked in $3.3m compared to Mr Saccone’s $703,000. Outside Republican groups rushed to make up the difference, flooding the district with $10m in funding. It remained to be seen whether their efforts paid off.
'It's not over yet:' Nail-biter Pennsylvania special election heads into 2nd day - CNN Politics
'It's not over yet:' Nail-biter Pennsylvania special election heads into 2nd day
Eric Bradner
By Eric Bradner, CNN
Updated 0559 GMT (1359 HKT) March 14, 2018
Conor Lamb speech
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Atlantic Aviation in Moon Township, Pa., Saturday, March 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
GOP candidate struggling in state Trump won
Smerconish: Passion will win PA election
Voters divided ahead of Pennsylvania election
pennsylvania 18th special election conor lamb rick saccone unions tariff steel trump orig_00014326.jpg
Steel district may flip despite Trump tariffs
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 6: Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a rally in support of Democratic congressional candidate Conor Lamb Tuesday March 6, 2018 at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh. Lamb is running in a tight race for the vacated seat of Congressman Tim Murphy against Rick Saccone. President Donald Trump plans to visit Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District March 10, 2018 in a bid to help Saccone. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
Biden campaigns for Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania
Rick Saccaone
'Trump 2.0' runs for Congress in Pennsylvania
MAGIC WALL: All Eyes on PA-18
Conor Lamb speechNOW PLAYING
Conor Lamb claims victory in PA House race
Message for Republicans? 'The House is on fire'
rick saccone
Saccone: We're not giving up, going to win it
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 9: Rick Saccone, Republican Congressional candidate for Pennsylvania's 18th district, speaks to reporters at the Republican Committee of Allegheny County offices, March 9, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Saccone is running in a tight race for the vacated seat of Congressman Tim Murphy against Democratic candidate Conor Lamb. President Trump will travel to Pennsylvania on Saturday for a campaign rally with Saccone. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
King: Possible Saccone can win but unlikely
A cameraman takes footage of the signs for the two candidates outside a polling place in the special election being held for the PA 18th Congressional District vacated by Republican Tim Murphy, Tuesday, March 13, 2018, in McKeesport, Pa. Republican Rick Saccone had just voted at the site. Saccone is running against Democrat Conor Lamb. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
PA county to count absentee ballots tonight
ELIZABETH, PA - MARCH 12: Rick Saccone, Republican Congressional candidate for Pennsylvania's 18th district, speaks at a campaign rally at the Blaine Hill Volunteer Fire Department, March 12, 2018 in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania. Saccone is running in a tight race for the vacated seat of Congressman Tim Murphy against Democratic candidate Conor Lamb. Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday for the special election. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Panelist: Race was determined before Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Atlantic Aviation in Moon Township, Pa., Saturday, March 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
GOP candidate struggling in state Trump won
Smerconish: Passion will win PA election
Voters divided ahead of Pennsylvania election
pennsylvania 18th special election conor lamb rick saccone unions tariff steel trump orig_00014326.jpg
Steel district may flip despite Trump tariffs
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 6: Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a rally in support of Democratic congressional candidate Conor Lamb Tuesday March 6, 2018 at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh. Lamb is running in a tight race for the vacated seat of Congressman Tim Murphy against Rick Saccone. President Donald Trump plans to visit Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District March 10, 2018 in a bid to help Saccone. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
Biden campaigns for Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania
Rick Saccaone
'Trump 2.0' runs for Congress in Pennsylvania
MAGIC WALL: All Eyes on PA-18
Conor Lamb speech
Conor Lamb claims victory in PA House race
Message for Republicans? 'The House is on fire'
rick saccone
Saccone: We're not giving up, going to win it
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 9: Rick Saccone, Republican Congressional candidate for Pennsylvania's 18th district, speaks to reporters at the Republican Committee of Allegheny County offices, March 9, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Saccone is running in a tight race for the vacated seat of Congressman Tim Murphy against Democratic candidate Conor Lamb. President Trump will travel to Pennsylvania on Saturday for a campaign rally with Saccone. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
King: Possible Saccone can win but unlikely
A cameraman takes footage of the signs for the two candidates outside a polling place in the special election being held for the PA 18th Congressional District vacated by Republican Tim Murphy, Tuesday, March 13, 2018, in McKeesport, Pa. Republican Rick Saccone had just voted at the site. Saccone is running against Democrat Conor Lamb. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
PA county to count absentee ballots tonight
ELIZABETH, PA - MARCH 12: Rick Saccone, Republican Congressional candidate for Pennsylvania's 18th district, speaks at a campaign rally at the Blaine Hill Volunteer Fire Department, March 12, 2018 in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania. Saccone is running in a tight race for the vacated seat of Congressman Tim Murphy against Democratic candidate Conor Lamb. Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday for the special election. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Panelist: Race was determined before Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Atlantic Aviation in Moon Township, Pa., Saturday, March 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
GOP candidate struggling in state Trump won
(CNN)Democrat Conor Lamb and Republican Rick Saccone are locked in a neck and neck battle to decide who will represent Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District.
After a long night of drama, the race is still too close to call. Lamb holds a slight lead over Saccone with 100% of the Election Day vote tallied, but absentee and provisional ballots are still being counted. It would be an significant uphill climb for Saccone to overtake Lamb.
Lamb claimed victory in a speech to his supporters Tuesday night.
"It took a little longer than we thought, but we did it," he said. "You did it."
Saccone, however, said he isn't giving up.
"We are still fighting the fight. It's not over yet," Saccone told his supporters more than an hour earlier.
It's a bad sign for Republicans that the 18th District race is razor-tight. President Donald Trump won there by 20 percentage points in 2016, and GOP groups pumped $10.7 million into a months-long effort to stave off an embarrassing loss there. Lamb's performance is ominous for the GOP as it heads into November's midterm elections.
pennsylvaniahouse 18est. 100% in
candidate votes %
lamb 113,720
49.8%
saccone 113,079
49.6%
Even a narrow Lamb win would signal that the GOP is in danger even in districts considered safe for Republicans, raising Democratic hopes of capturing the House and maybe the Senate in November. A Republican loss could lead to more House members retiring rather than running into headwinds in re-election bids. Democrats, meanwhile, would look to replicate Lamb's success in working-class districts with similar demographics.
With no declared winner, both parties took a stab at spinning the available results. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee claimed victory for Lamb in a statement Tuesday night, while the National Republican Congressional Committee said it was "confident" Saccone would win.
Saccone: We're not giving up, going to win it
Saccone: We're not giving up, going to win it 01:47
Earlier in the evening, before it became clear the results would be so close, several Republican officials told CNN they were expecting Saccone to lose. Party officials were placing the blame squarely on Saccone's campaign but also on Trump's Saturday rally for the candidate, which some Republicans believe helped drive up Democratic turnout.
When the race tightened, that outlook improved, with one GOP source telling CNN's Jim Acosta: "This isn't a blowout -- for now, we'll happily take it."
A Republican official told CNN that Trump, who was raising money with GOP donors in Beverly Hills, California, has been asking for updates throughout the evening and is pleasantly surprised by the narrow margin.
Lamb and Saccone were running to replace former GOP Rep. Tim Murphy, who resigned after allegedly urging a woman he was having an affair with to have an abortion.
The stakes are largely psychological: Pennsylvania's Supreme Court recently ruled that its congressional districts were gerrymandered and redrew the map -- meaning both candidates would face choices about where to run if they want to be on the ballot in November.
Manu Raju, Jeff Zeleny, and Jim Acosta contributed to this report.
Eric Bradner
By Eric Bradner, CNN
Updated 0559 GMT (1359 HKT) March 14, 2018
Conor Lamb speech
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Atlantic Aviation in Moon Township, Pa., Saturday, March 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
GOP candidate struggling in state Trump won
Smerconish: Passion will win PA election
Voters divided ahead of Pennsylvania election
pennsylvania 18th special election conor lamb rick saccone unions tariff steel trump orig_00014326.jpg
Steel district may flip despite Trump tariffs
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 6: Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a rally in support of Democratic congressional candidate Conor Lamb Tuesday March 6, 2018 at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh. Lamb is running in a tight race for the vacated seat of Congressman Tim Murphy against Rick Saccone. President Donald Trump plans to visit Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District March 10, 2018 in a bid to help Saccone. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
Biden campaigns for Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania
Rick Saccaone
'Trump 2.0' runs for Congress in Pennsylvania
MAGIC WALL: All Eyes on PA-18
Conor Lamb speechNOW PLAYING
Conor Lamb claims victory in PA House race
Message for Republicans? 'The House is on fire'
rick saccone
Saccone: We're not giving up, going to win it
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 9: Rick Saccone, Republican Congressional candidate for Pennsylvania's 18th district, speaks to reporters at the Republican Committee of Allegheny County offices, March 9, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Saccone is running in a tight race for the vacated seat of Congressman Tim Murphy against Democratic candidate Conor Lamb. President Trump will travel to Pennsylvania on Saturday for a campaign rally with Saccone. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
King: Possible Saccone can win but unlikely
A cameraman takes footage of the signs for the two candidates outside a polling place in the special election being held for the PA 18th Congressional District vacated by Republican Tim Murphy, Tuesday, March 13, 2018, in McKeesport, Pa. Republican Rick Saccone had just voted at the site. Saccone is running against Democrat Conor Lamb. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
PA county to count absentee ballots tonight
ELIZABETH, PA - MARCH 12: Rick Saccone, Republican Congressional candidate for Pennsylvania's 18th district, speaks at a campaign rally at the Blaine Hill Volunteer Fire Department, March 12, 2018 in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania. Saccone is running in a tight race for the vacated seat of Congressman Tim Murphy against Democratic candidate Conor Lamb. Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday for the special election. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Panelist: Race was determined before Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Atlantic Aviation in Moon Township, Pa., Saturday, March 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
GOP candidate struggling in state Trump won
Smerconish: Passion will win PA election
Voters divided ahead of Pennsylvania election
pennsylvania 18th special election conor lamb rick saccone unions tariff steel trump orig_00014326.jpg
Steel district may flip despite Trump tariffs
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 6: Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a rally in support of Democratic congressional candidate Conor Lamb Tuesday March 6, 2018 at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh. Lamb is running in a tight race for the vacated seat of Congressman Tim Murphy against Rick Saccone. President Donald Trump plans to visit Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District March 10, 2018 in a bid to help Saccone. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
Biden campaigns for Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania
Rick Saccaone
'Trump 2.0' runs for Congress in Pennsylvania
MAGIC WALL: All Eyes on PA-18
Conor Lamb speech
Conor Lamb claims victory in PA House race
Message for Republicans? 'The House is on fire'
rick saccone
Saccone: We're not giving up, going to win it
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 9: Rick Saccone, Republican Congressional candidate for Pennsylvania's 18th district, speaks to reporters at the Republican Committee of Allegheny County offices, March 9, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Saccone is running in a tight race for the vacated seat of Congressman Tim Murphy against Democratic candidate Conor Lamb. President Trump will travel to Pennsylvania on Saturday for a campaign rally with Saccone. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
King: Possible Saccone can win but unlikely
A cameraman takes footage of the signs for the two candidates outside a polling place in the special election being held for the PA 18th Congressional District vacated by Republican Tim Murphy, Tuesday, March 13, 2018, in McKeesport, Pa. Republican Rick Saccone had just voted at the site. Saccone is running against Democrat Conor Lamb. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
PA county to count absentee ballots tonight
ELIZABETH, PA - MARCH 12: Rick Saccone, Republican Congressional candidate for Pennsylvania's 18th district, speaks at a campaign rally at the Blaine Hill Volunteer Fire Department, March 12, 2018 in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania. Saccone is running in a tight race for the vacated seat of Congressman Tim Murphy against Democratic candidate Conor Lamb. Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday for the special election. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Panelist: Race was determined before Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Atlantic Aviation in Moon Township, Pa., Saturday, March 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
GOP candidate struggling in state Trump won
(CNN)Democrat Conor Lamb and Republican Rick Saccone are locked in a neck and neck battle to decide who will represent Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District.
After a long night of drama, the race is still too close to call. Lamb holds a slight lead over Saccone with 100% of the Election Day vote tallied, but absentee and provisional ballots are still being counted. It would be an significant uphill climb for Saccone to overtake Lamb.
Lamb claimed victory in a speech to his supporters Tuesday night.
"It took a little longer than we thought, but we did it," he said. "You did it."
Saccone, however, said he isn't giving up.
"We are still fighting the fight. It's not over yet," Saccone told his supporters more than an hour earlier.
It's a bad sign for Republicans that the 18th District race is razor-tight. President Donald Trump won there by 20 percentage points in 2016, and GOP groups pumped $10.7 million into a months-long effort to stave off an embarrassing loss there. Lamb's performance is ominous for the GOP as it heads into November's midterm elections.
pennsylvaniahouse 18est. 100% in
candidate votes %
lamb 113,720
49.8%
saccone 113,079
49.6%
Even a narrow Lamb win would signal that the GOP is in danger even in districts considered safe for Republicans, raising Democratic hopes of capturing the House and maybe the Senate in November. A Republican loss could lead to more House members retiring rather than running into headwinds in re-election bids. Democrats, meanwhile, would look to replicate Lamb's success in working-class districts with similar demographics.
With no declared winner, both parties took a stab at spinning the available results. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee claimed victory for Lamb in a statement Tuesday night, while the National Republican Congressional Committee said it was "confident" Saccone would win.
Saccone: We're not giving up, going to win it
Saccone: We're not giving up, going to win it 01:47
Earlier in the evening, before it became clear the results would be so close, several Republican officials told CNN they were expecting Saccone to lose. Party officials were placing the blame squarely on Saccone's campaign but also on Trump's Saturday rally for the candidate, which some Republicans believe helped drive up Democratic turnout.
When the race tightened, that outlook improved, with one GOP source telling CNN's Jim Acosta: "This isn't a blowout -- for now, we'll happily take it."
A Republican official told CNN that Trump, who was raising money with GOP donors in Beverly Hills, California, has been asking for updates throughout the evening and is pleasantly surprised by the narrow margin.
Lamb and Saccone were running to replace former GOP Rep. Tim Murphy, who resigned after allegedly urging a woman he was having an affair with to have an abortion.
The stakes are largely psychological: Pennsylvania's Supreme Court recently ruled that its congressional districts were gerrymandered and redrew the map -- meaning both candidates would face choices about where to run if they want to be on the ballot in November.
Manu Raju, Jeff Zeleny, and Jim Acosta contributed to this report.
Chinese journalist becomes instant meme with dramatic eye-roll at tame press conference question - Independent
14/3/2018
Chinese journalist becomes instant meme with dramatic eye-roll at tame press conference question
Reporter Liang Xiangyi was unable to hide her scorn for a softball question to an official at the National People's Congress, and her name is now being censored on Chinese social media
Lydia Smith
Carragher suspended for rest of the season for spitting incident
Stephen Hawking was no stranger to the screen
Formula E: Oliver Turvey delighted with Mexico podium
Brie Larson won't make surprise Avengers: Infinity War appearance
A journalist’s name has become the most censored term on Chinese social media after her dramatic reaction to a softball question posed by a fellow reporter at a choreographed press conference.
Liang Xiangyi, from the financial outlet Yicai, was unable to hide her disdain at what was likely a vetted query at China’s National People’s Congress.
In a moment captured on video, she begins to scoff as the reporter asks an official a lengthy question.
Ms Liang, dressed in blue, then turns towards the questioner and looks her up and down in revulsion, before performing a spectacular eye-roll.
Chinese students put up Xi Jinping ‘not my President’ posters
Trump must include China and Japan in his meeting with Kim Jong-un
China removes criticism of move allowing President to stay in power
Captured by China’s national broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), the moment spread like wildfire across Chinese social media.
The question was presented by Zhang Huijun, of the US-based American Multimedia Television, which has links with China’s state-owned CCTV.
After introducing herself, she asks a rambling question about the protection of state-owned enterprises and President Xi Jinping's infrastructure project the Belt and Road Initiative.
美娟美心
@huangmeijuan
记者会由某组织控制。
蓝衣服 ：第一财经电视记者 梁相宜
红衣服 ：原供职于中央电视台的、曾任职中国旅游与经济电视台执行台长，现全美电视台台长张慧君。假外媒，口中称“我国”。
蓝衣鄙视的表情，都想抢夺话语权。
4:59 PM - Mar 13, 2018
“This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Reform and Opening-up Policy, and our country is going to further extend its openness to foreign countries,” Ms Huijun says.
Congress press conferences are known for their highly-controlled environments, in which news outlets with links to the Chinese government are called on to ask officials flattering questions, which are often agreed on in advance.
The eye-roll, a rare break from the artifice of such press conferences, has been immortalised on social media with GIFs and memes, with many users expressing support for Ms Liang.
“Nicely done! You gave an eye-roll on our behalf!” one Weibo user said.
Three men also recreated the moment in a parody video shared widely online.
@luluyilun
Amazing to see how these two ladies just exploded over Chinese social media in the span of a few hours. Fan art in the making
5:20 PM - Mar 13, 2018
As support for Ms Liang spread, her name became the most-censored term on the Chinese social media site Weibo.
According to China Digital Times, "censorship instructions" were swiftly issued to the media by government authorities, which read: "Urgent notice: all media personnel are prohibited from discussing the Two Sessions blue-clothed reporter incident on social media. Anything already posted must be deleted. Without exception, websites must not hype the episode."
The South China Morning Post reported Ms Liang’s media accreditation to cover the Congress has been revoked following the incident.
Earlier this month, the Chinese government launched a wide-ranging online censorship crackdown, which includes a ban on George Orwell’s Animal Farm, to suppress what it views as threats to national security.
It came just days after the Chinese Communist Party announced presidential term limits would be removed, allowing Xi Jinping to stay in office as President indefinitely.
China’s parliament passed a constitutional amendment abolishing the two-term limit this week, a move the government has said is aimed at protecting the authority of the party with Mr Xi at the centre.
Chinese journalist becomes instant meme with dramatic eye-roll at tame press conference question
Reporter Liang Xiangyi was unable to hide her scorn for a softball question to an official at the National People's Congress, and her name is now being censored on Chinese social media
Lydia Smith
Carragher suspended for rest of the season for spitting incident
Stephen Hawking was no stranger to the screen
Formula E: Oliver Turvey delighted with Mexico podium
Brie Larson won't make surprise Avengers: Infinity War appearance
A journalist’s name has become the most censored term on Chinese social media after her dramatic reaction to a softball question posed by a fellow reporter at a choreographed press conference.
Liang Xiangyi, from the financial outlet Yicai, was unable to hide her disdain at what was likely a vetted query at China’s National People’s Congress.
In a moment captured on video, she begins to scoff as the reporter asks an official a lengthy question.
Ms Liang, dressed in blue, then turns towards the questioner and looks her up and down in revulsion, before performing a spectacular eye-roll.
Chinese students put up Xi Jinping ‘not my President’ posters
Trump must include China and Japan in his meeting with Kim Jong-un
China removes criticism of move allowing President to stay in power
Captured by China’s national broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), the moment spread like wildfire across Chinese social media.
The question was presented by Zhang Huijun, of the US-based American Multimedia Television, which has links with China’s state-owned CCTV.
After introducing herself, she asks a rambling question about the protection of state-owned enterprises and President Xi Jinping's infrastructure project the Belt and Road Initiative.
美娟美心
@huangmeijuan
记者会由某组织控制。
蓝衣服 ：第一财经电视记者 梁相宜
红衣服 ：原供职于中央电视台的、曾任职中国旅游与经济电视台执行台长，现全美电视台台长张慧君。假外媒，口中称“我国”。
蓝衣鄙视的表情，都想抢夺话语权。
4:59 PM - Mar 13, 2018
“This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Reform and Opening-up Policy, and our country is going to further extend its openness to foreign countries,” Ms Huijun says.
Congress press conferences are known for their highly-controlled environments, in which news outlets with links to the Chinese government are called on to ask officials flattering questions, which are often agreed on in advance.
The eye-roll, a rare break from the artifice of such press conferences, has been immortalised on social media with GIFs and memes, with many users expressing support for Ms Liang.
“Nicely done! You gave an eye-roll on our behalf!” one Weibo user said.
Three men also recreated the moment in a parody video shared widely online.
@luluyilun
Amazing to see how these two ladies just exploded over Chinese social media in the span of a few hours. Fan art in the making
5:20 PM - Mar 13, 2018
As support for Ms Liang spread, her name became the most-censored term on the Chinese social media site Weibo.
According to China Digital Times, "censorship instructions" were swiftly issued to the media by government authorities, which read: "Urgent notice: all media personnel are prohibited from discussing the Two Sessions blue-clothed reporter incident on social media. Anything already posted must be deleted. Without exception, websites must not hype the episode."
The South China Morning Post reported Ms Liang’s media accreditation to cover the Congress has been revoked following the incident.
Earlier this month, the Chinese government launched a wide-ranging online censorship crackdown, which includes a ban on George Orwell’s Animal Farm, to suppress what it views as threats to national security.
It came just days after the Chinese Communist Party announced presidential term limits would be removed, allowing Xi Jinping to stay in office as President indefinitely.
China’s parliament passed a constitutional amendment abolishing the two-term limit this week, a move the government has said is aimed at protecting the authority of the party with Mr Xi at the centre.
Rex Tillerson’s No Good, Very Bad, Final Week - Bloomberg
Rex Tillerson’s No Good, Very Bad, Final Week
On his last official trip, the ex-secretary of state tried to put out diplomatic fires set by his boss.
By
March 14, 2018, 3:19 AM GMT+11
Rex Tillerson was asleep on March 9 in the luxurious Sheraton Resort in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, when President Donald Trump woke him with a 2 a.m. phone call to say he’d already decided, without consulting or warning his top diplomat, to accept a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
It was the last real bit of sleep Tillerson would get in three days. The week before had been hard: Tillerson’s father had died, and he’d taken a few days off for the funeral. Now he had to deal with Trump’s latest “breakthrough.” On his first trip to Africa as secretary of state and several time zones ahead of his boss, Tillerson launched into a succession of phone calls with foreign leaders to inform them that, yes, Trump had just decided to blow up decades of foreign policy convention for what could be the most momentous handshake between a U.S. president and a foreign counterpart since Richard Nixon went to China.
By doing so, Trump also upended the carefully laid plans of advisers such as Tillerson, who’d envisioned a process that might eventually lead to a meeting with Kim, but only after painstaking, monthslong deliberation regarding all the possible pitfalls and dangers of such a move—and, most important, to assess whether North Korea’s offer was genuine. Instead, Trump had summoned a visiting South Korean delegation to his office a day earlier than planned to brief him on its own trip to Pyongyang, and the president decided on the spot to meet Kim.
“I think I had four hours of sleep in 72 hours because of a lot of what’s going on,” a clearly exhausted Tillerson told reporters on the flight home from Nigeria. He’d spent one day with a stomach bug and was returning a day early to prepare for meetings on North Korea, tariffs, and other issues on Washington time. “I felt like, look—I just need to get back.”
Follow the Trump Administration’s Every Move.
Tillerson said the Trump administration had known via direct, private channels with North Korea that Kim had long wanted a meeting with Trump. But the administration was surprised that the North Korean leader was so forward-leaning in his offer, at least as South Korea presented it: a commitment to suspend nuclear and missile tests, accept the reality of US.-South Korean military exercises, and to work toward giving up his nuclear weapons completely.
Tillerson, who thought the talks to arrange a meeting would go at a marathoner’s pace, suddenly saw that Trump and Kim were running at a sprint. Kim’s posture had changed in a “fairly dramatic way that, in all honesty, was a—came as a little bit of a surprise to us,” Tillerson said on another stop, in Djibouti.
On March 13, Tillerson was blindsided when a staffer read him the latest Trump tweet: He’d been fired as secretary of state and replaced by CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Tillerson’s experience meeting dictators and autocrats over his 40 years at Exxon Mobil Corp., tussling with Gulf sheikhs, Hugo Chávez, and Vladimir Putin, would have been useful to the president, who almost certainly has never met anyone like Kim. Tillerson had his strategy: He describes it as making an early connection and using trust established at the start to sustain momentum. He is a man who professes to live by the motto, “My word is my bond.”
@realDonaldTrump
Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!
11:44 PM - Mar 13, 2018
“Every one of them are different, so you really got to do your homework. And in my past, I did an enormous amount of reading,” Tillerson said on his way home from Africa. “It’s going to be hard, you’re going to disagree. People are going to walk away, but you establish this connection early on that says, ‘We’re going to figure this out.’”
“I have a lot of confidence in my ability to create the conditions for successful negotiations between two very disparate parties,” he said. That may be, but one crucial person who doesn’t share that confidence is his now-former boss, Donald Trump.
On his last official trip, the ex-secretary of state tried to put out diplomatic fires set by his boss.
By
March 14, 2018, 3:19 AM GMT+11
Rex Tillerson was asleep on March 9 in the luxurious Sheraton Resort in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, when President Donald Trump woke him with a 2 a.m. phone call to say he’d already decided, without consulting or warning his top diplomat, to accept a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
It was the last real bit of sleep Tillerson would get in three days. The week before had been hard: Tillerson’s father had died, and he’d taken a few days off for the funeral. Now he had to deal with Trump’s latest “breakthrough.” On his first trip to Africa as secretary of state and several time zones ahead of his boss, Tillerson launched into a succession of phone calls with foreign leaders to inform them that, yes, Trump had just decided to blow up decades of foreign policy convention for what could be the most momentous handshake between a U.S. president and a foreign counterpart since Richard Nixon went to China.
By doing so, Trump also upended the carefully laid plans of advisers such as Tillerson, who’d envisioned a process that might eventually lead to a meeting with Kim, but only after painstaking, monthslong deliberation regarding all the possible pitfalls and dangers of such a move—and, most important, to assess whether North Korea’s offer was genuine. Instead, Trump had summoned a visiting South Korean delegation to his office a day earlier than planned to brief him on its own trip to Pyongyang, and the president decided on the spot to meet Kim.
“I think I had four hours of sleep in 72 hours because of a lot of what’s going on,” a clearly exhausted Tillerson told reporters on the flight home from Nigeria. He’d spent one day with a stomach bug and was returning a day early to prepare for meetings on North Korea, tariffs, and other issues on Washington time. “I felt like, look—I just need to get back.”
Follow the Trump Administration’s Every Move.
Tillerson said the Trump administration had known via direct, private channels with North Korea that Kim had long wanted a meeting with Trump. But the administration was surprised that the North Korean leader was so forward-leaning in his offer, at least as South Korea presented it: a commitment to suspend nuclear and missile tests, accept the reality of US.-South Korean military exercises, and to work toward giving up his nuclear weapons completely.
Tillerson, who thought the talks to arrange a meeting would go at a marathoner’s pace, suddenly saw that Trump and Kim were running at a sprint. Kim’s posture had changed in a “fairly dramatic way that, in all honesty, was a—came as a little bit of a surprise to us,” Tillerson said on another stop, in Djibouti.
On March 13, Tillerson was blindsided when a staffer read him the latest Trump tweet: He’d been fired as secretary of state and replaced by CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Tillerson’s experience meeting dictators and autocrats over his 40 years at Exxon Mobil Corp., tussling with Gulf sheikhs, Hugo Chávez, and Vladimir Putin, would have been useful to the president, who almost certainly has never met anyone like Kim. Tillerson had his strategy: He describes it as making an early connection and using trust established at the start to sustain momentum. He is a man who professes to live by the motto, “My word is my bond.”
@realDonaldTrump
Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!
11:44 PM - Mar 13, 2018
“Every one of them are different, so you really got to do your homework. And in my past, I did an enormous amount of reading,” Tillerson said on his way home from Africa. “It’s going to be hard, you’re going to disagree. People are going to walk away, but you establish this connection early on that says, ‘We’re going to figure this out.’”
“I have a lot of confidence in my ability to create the conditions for successful negotiations between two very disparate parties,” he said. That may be, but one crucial person who doesn’t share that confidence is his now-former boss, Donald Trump.
A Heinous Mistake With Jam on a Scone Spreads Outrage in England - TIME
|
Posted: 12 Mar 2018 07:56 AM PDT
Do you first apply a layer of cream to your scone or do you start with a foundation of jam for the cream to rest on? The argument over that bit of afternoon tea etiquette has raged on for years between scone-eating residents of Devon and Cornwall. Now, an historical home in Cornwall has been forced to apologize to its neighbors for daring to perhaps suggest that cream be put on a scone first. British newspaper The Telegraph reports that the Lanhydrock House and Garden in Cornwall caused a stir when they ran an advertisement for a Mother’s Day tea accompanied by a photograph showing that cream had been spread on a scone before the jam. This, of course, goes against Cornish norms where cream goes on top of the jam in traditional Cornish cream tea. According to The Telegraph, the photograph prompted outrage with people calling it “unacceptable”, “shocking” and “disgusting” and some Cornish people even threatened to cancel their memberships over the horrifying image of a mishandled scone. The Lanhydrock House responded by reprimanding the staff member responsible for the affront and making #jamfirst pins for the staff. Not everyone is team “jam first” though. On Facebook they noted: “We’d like to reassure our Cornish community that our catering team would never make such a heinous mistake and that our jam and cream are usually served in little pots so the order of their application is not subject to such appalling error. Rest assured, your mothers are safe here.” While this sounds a bit silly to American ears, keep in mind how everyone on the internet flipped out when the New York Times (questionably) suggested putting peas in guacamole or how fiercely people will argue about strawberry pizza or hold a vigil for a Taco Bell that burned down or riot over McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce shortage or share their deep feelings about the existence of Salted Caramel Pepsi. In short, when it comes to people and food, there’s no accounting for taste, feelings, or emotions. |
EU council president calls out Donald Trump's 'transatlantic bickering' in face of Russia tension - Independent
14/3/2018
EU council president calls out Donald Trump's 'transatlantic bickering' in face of Russia tension
In thinly veiled tweet Donald Tusk says need for 'transatlantic unity' should be 'obvious' for Europe's 'real friends'
Jon Stone Brussels @joncstone
The president of the European Council has launched a thinly-veiled attack on Donald Trump’s approach to international relations, accusing the US president of “transatlantic bickering” in the face of apparent Russian aggression.
In a Wednesday afternoon tweet in which he did not explicitly name the US president, Donald Tusk said that the requirement for “transatlantic unity” should be “obvious” for Europe’s “real friends” after the US president pushed forward with tariffs on European steel and aluminium.
Mr Tusk cited the use of a nerve agent on European soil, the spread of state-sponsored fake news, and the meddling in elections as reasons for a coordinated response from the US and EU.
EU council president calls out Donald Trump's 'transatlantic bickering' in face of Russia tension
In thinly veiled tweet Donald Tusk says need for 'transatlantic unity' should be 'obvious' for Europe's 'real friends'
Jon Stone Brussels @joncstone
The president of the European Council has launched a thinly-veiled attack on Donald Trump’s approach to international relations, accusing the US president of “transatlantic bickering” in the face of apparent Russian aggression.
In a Wednesday afternoon tweet in which he did not explicitly name the US president, Donald Tusk said that the requirement for “transatlantic unity” should be “obvious” for Europe’s “real friends” after the US president pushed forward with tariffs on European steel and aluminium.
Mr Tusk cited the use of a nerve agent on European soil, the spread of state-sponsored fake news, and the meddling in elections as reasons for a coordinated response from the US and EU.
Stephen Hawking dies: Scientist's most memorable quotes - BBC News
14/3/2018
Stephen Hawking dies: Scientist's most memorable quotes
Prof Hawking was still working at Cambridge University at the age of 75
He was trapped in his own body by motor neurone disease, but that did not stop Prof Stephen Hawking help us all get an understanding of the universe.
The world renowned physicist has died at the age of 76, leaving the world memorable words on a host of subjects.
Wheelchair-bound and largely unable to speak, most of them were delivered through his famous voice synthesiser.
From the reasons for the universe's existence to the downside of fame, here are some of his pearls of wisdom:
On black holes: "Einstein was wrong when he said, 'God does not play dice'. Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that he sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen" - The Nature Of Space And Time, published 1996
On the reason why the universe exists: "If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason - for then we would know the mind of God" - A Brief History Of Time, published 1988
On God: "It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going" - The Grand Design, published 2010
On humanity: "We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special" - Interview in Der Spiegel, October 1988
On commercial success: "I want my books sold on airport bookstalls"- Interview in the New York Times, December 2004
On life: "One, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Two, never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it. Three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and don't throw it away" - Interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, June 2010
On fame: "The downside of my celebrity is that I cannot go anywhere in the world without being recognised. It is not enough for me to wear dark sunglasses and a wig. The wheelchair gives me away" - Interview on Israeli TV, December 2006
On living with a disability: "My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn't prevent you doing well, and don't regret the things it interferes with. Don't be disabled in spirit, as well as physically" - Interview in the New York Times, May 2011
My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21 - everything since then has been a bonus
On an imperfect world: "Without imperfection, you or I would not exist" - On Into The Universe With Stephen Hawking, the Discovery Channel, 2010
On staying cheerful: "Life would be tragic if it weren't funny" - Interview in the New York Times, December 2004
On euthanasia: "The victim should have the right to end his life, if he wants. But I think it would be a great mistake. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there's life, there is hope"- Quoted in People's Daily Online, June 2006
On artificial intelligence: "The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate... Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded" - Interview with the BBC, December 2014
On the possibility of contact between humans and aliens: "I think it would be a disaster. The extraterrestrials would probably be far in advance of us. The history of advanced races meeting more primitive people on this planet is not very happy, and they were the same species. I think we should keep our heads low" - In Naked Science: Alien Contact, the National Geographic Channel, 2004
On space colonies: "I don't think the human race will survive the next 1,000 years, unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet. But I'm an optimist. We will reach out to the stars" - Interview in the Daily Telegraph, October 2001
On the end of the universe: ""It will take about a thousand million million million million years for the Earth to run into the sun, so there's no immediate cause for worry!" - A Brief History Of Time, published 1988
On being diagnosed with motor neurone disease: "My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus" - Interview in the New York Times, December 2004
On death: "I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first." - Interview in the Guardian, May 2011
Obituary: Stephen Hawking
A life in pictures
Prof Hawking 'transformed our view of the universe'
Stephen Hawking dies: Scientist's most memorable quotes
Prof Hawking was still working at Cambridge University at the age of 75
He was trapped in his own body by motor neurone disease, but that did not stop Prof Stephen Hawking help us all get an understanding of the universe.
The world renowned physicist has died at the age of 76, leaving the world memorable words on a host of subjects.
Wheelchair-bound and largely unable to speak, most of them were delivered through his famous voice synthesiser.
From the reasons for the universe's existence to the downside of fame, here are some of his pearls of wisdom:
On black holes: "Einstein was wrong when he said, 'God does not play dice'. Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that he sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen" - The Nature Of Space And Time, published 1996
On the reason why the universe exists: "If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason - for then we would know the mind of God" - A Brief History Of Time, published 1988
On God: "It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going" - The Grand Design, published 2010
On humanity: "We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special" - Interview in Der Spiegel, October 1988
On commercial success: "I want my books sold on airport bookstalls"- Interview in the New York Times, December 2004
On life: "One, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Two, never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it. Three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and don't throw it away" - Interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, June 2010
On fame: "The downside of my celebrity is that I cannot go anywhere in the world without being recognised. It is not enough for me to wear dark sunglasses and a wig. The wheelchair gives me away" - Interview on Israeli TV, December 2006
On living with a disability: "My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn't prevent you doing well, and don't regret the things it interferes with. Don't be disabled in spirit, as well as physically" - Interview in the New York Times, May 2011
My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21 - everything since then has been a bonus
On an imperfect world: "Without imperfection, you or I would not exist" - On Into The Universe With Stephen Hawking, the Discovery Channel, 2010
On staying cheerful: "Life would be tragic if it weren't funny" - Interview in the New York Times, December 2004
On euthanasia: "The victim should have the right to end his life, if he wants. But I think it would be a great mistake. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there's life, there is hope"- Quoted in People's Daily Online, June 2006
On artificial intelligence: "The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate... Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded" - Interview with the BBC, December 2014
On the possibility of contact between humans and aliens: "I think it would be a disaster. The extraterrestrials would probably be far in advance of us. The history of advanced races meeting more primitive people on this planet is not very happy, and they were the same species. I think we should keep our heads low" - In Naked Science: Alien Contact, the National Geographic Channel, 2004
On space colonies: "I don't think the human race will survive the next 1,000 years, unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet. But I'm an optimist. We will reach out to the stars" - Interview in the Daily Telegraph, October 2001
On the end of the universe: ""It will take about a thousand million million million million years for the Earth to run into the sun, so there's no immediate cause for worry!" - A Brief History Of Time, published 1988
On being diagnosed with motor neurone disease: "My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus" - Interview in the New York Times, December 2004
On death: "I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first." - Interview in the Guardian, May 2011
Obituary: Stephen Hawking
A life in pictures
Prof Hawking 'transformed our view of the universe'
Stephen Hawking: Visionary physicist dies aged 76 - BBC News
14/3/2018
Stephen Hawking: Visionary physicist dies aged 76
Looking back the life of Stephen Hawking
World renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76.
He died peacefully at his home in Cambridge in the early hours of Wednesday, his family said.
The British scientist was famed for his work with black holes and relativity, and wrote several popular science books including A Brief History of Time.
At the age of 22 Prof Hawking was given only a few years to live after being diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease.
Obituary: Stephen Hawki
Reaction to his death - latest updates
The illness left him in a wheelchair and largely unable to speak except through a voice synthesiser.
In a statement his children, Lucy, Robert and Tim, said: "We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today.
"He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years."
They praised his "courage and persistence" and said his "brilliance and humour" inspired people across the world.
"He once said, 'It would not be much of a universe if it wasn't home to the people you love.' We will miss him forever."
A book of condolence is due to be opened at Gonville and Caius College in Cambridge, where Prof Hawking was a fellow.
Media captionProfessor Brian Cox on the legacy and wonder of Hawking's work
Prof Hawking was the first to set out a theory of cosmology as a union of relativity and quantum mechanics.
He also discovered that black holes leak energy and fade to nothing - a phenomenon that would later become known as Hawking radiation.
Stephen Hawking in quotes
The discoveries that made Stephen Hawking famous
Tributes flood in for Stephen Hawking
Science community mourns Stephen Hawking
Through his work with mathematician Sir Roger Penrose he demonstrated that Einstein's general theory of relativity implies space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and an end in black holes.
The scientist gained popularity outside the academic world and appeared in several TV shows including The Simpsons, Red Dwarf and The Big Bang Theory.
@bigbangtheory
In loving memory of Stephen Hawking. It was an honor to have him on The #BigBangTheory. Thank you for inspiring us and the world.
4:13 PM - Mar 14, 2018
He was portrayed in both TV and film - recently by Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything, which charted his rise to fame and relationship with his first wife, Jane.
The actor paid tribute to him, saying: "We have lost a truly beautiful mind, an astonishing scientist and the funniest man I have ever had the pleasure to meet."
Benedict Cumberbatch, who played Prof Hawking in a BBC drama, said he was "a true inspiration for me and for millions around the world".
Stephen Hawking was portrayed on TV and film by Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne
The Motor Neurone Disease Association, of which Prof Hawking had been a patron since 2008, reported that its website had crashed because of an influx of donations to the charity.
Factfile: Stephen Hawking
Born 8 January 1942 in Oxford, England
Earned place at Oxford University to read natural science in 1959, before studying for his PhD at Cambridge
By 1963, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and given two years to live
Outlined his theory that black holes emit "Hawking radiation" in 1974
In 1979, he became the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the Cambridge - a post once held by Sir Isaac Newton
Published his book A Brief History of Time in 1988, which has sold more than 10 million copies
In the late 1990s, he was reportedly offered a knighthood, but 10 years later revealed he had turned it down over issues with the government's funding for science
His life story was the subject of the 2014 film The Theory of Everything, starring Eddie Redmayne
Tributes have poured in for Prof Hawking since the announcement of his death.
Prof Lord Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, who was at university with Prof Hawking when he was diagnosed, said his friend had "amazing willpower and determination".
Listen: Stephen Hawking on Desert Island Discs
Watch: Stephen Hawking's greatest wish
Listen: Stephen Hawking Reith Lectures
Prime Minister Theresa May called him a "brilliant and extraordinary mind" and "one of the great scientists of his generation".
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn praised the scientist for his "determination to explain the mysteries of the cosmos" and his "burning passion to protect our National Health Service."
@NASA
Remembering Stephen Hawking, a renowned physicist and ambassador of science. His theories unlocked a universe of possibilities that we & the world are exploring. May you keep flying like superman in microgravity, as you said to astronauts on @Space_Station in 2014
4:06 PM - Mar 14, 2018
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the web, said: "We have lost a colossal mind and a wonderful spirit. Rest in peace, Stephen Hawking," he said.
The vice chancellor of the University of Cambridge - where Prof Hawking had studied and worked - Professor Stephen Toope, said he was a "unique individual" who would be remembered with "warmth and affection".
Prof James Hartle, who worked with him to create the Hartle-Hawking wavefunction to explain the Big Bang, said Prof Hawking had a "unique" ability to "see through all the clutter in physics" and get to the point.
He told BBC Radio Four's Today programme: "My memory of him would be… first our work together as scientists and, second, as a human being whose whole story is a triumph over adversity [and] who inspired a lot of people, including me."
His passing has left an intellectual vacuum in his wake. But it's not empty. Think of it as a kind of vacuum energy permeating the fabric of spacetime that defies measure. Stephen Hawking, RIP 1942-2018.
3:06 PM - Mar 14, 2018
End of Twitter post by @neiltyson
The comedian and presenter of the BBC's Stargazing Live Dara O'Briain said the scientist had an "immeasurable life" and "one of the few people I would call a hero of mine".
Theoretical physicist, professor Jim Al-Khalili, from Surrey University said Prof Hawking had a tremendous sense of humour.
He told BBC Radio Surrey: "He was a fun loving guy. Inside that shell, inside that body that was paralysed, was someone who was full of vigour, full of passion for life."
Hawking's discoveries
With the Oxford mathematician Roger Penrose, he showed that if there was a Big Bang, it must have started from an infinitely small point - a singularity
Black holes radiate energy known as Hawking radiation, while gradually losing mass. This is due to quantum effects near the edge of the black hole, a region called the event horizon
He predicted the existence of mini-black holes at the time of the Big Bang. These black holes would have shed mass until they vanished, potentially ending their lives in an explosion that would release vast amounts of energy
In the 1970s, Hawking considered whether the particles and light that enter a black hole were ultimately destroyed if the black hole evaporated. Hawking initially thought that this "information" was lost from the Universe. But the US physicist Leonard Susskind disagreed. These ideas became known as the information paradox. In 2004, Hawking conceded that the information must be conserved
British astronaut Tim Peake said Prof Hawking "inspired generations to look beyond our own blue planet and expand our understanding of the universe".
Gian Giudice, head of theoretical physics at the European nuclear research laboratory CERN, said Prof Hawking had a "great impact" on the centre's research, adding: "A giant of our field has left us, but his immortal contributions will remain forever."
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@Cambridge_Uni
"Look up at the stars and not down at your feet" - Professor Stephen Hawking
1942-2018 http://www.cam.ac.uk/stephenhawking
4:49 PM - Mar 14, 2018
Apple's co-founder Steve Wozniak said: "Stephen Hawking's integrity and scientific dedication placed him above pure brilliance,"
Stephen Hawking arrives on the red carpet with former wife Jane Hawking (L) and daughter Lucy Hawking (R).
In his 2013 memoir he described how he felt when first diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
"I felt it was very unfair - why should this happen to me," he wrote.
"At the time, I thought my life was over and that I would never realise the potential I felt I had. But now, 50 years later, I can be quietly satisfied with my life."
Speaking to the BBC in 2002, his mother, Isobelle, described him as a "very normal young man".
She said: "He liked parties. He liked pretty girls - only pretty ones. He liked adventure and he did, to some extent, like work."
Rex Tillerson: Secretary of state fired by Trump in Russia warning - BBC News
Rex Tillerson: Secretary of state fired by Trump in Russia warning
14 March 2018
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Rex Tillerson: "I will now return to private life"
Sacked US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has warned of Russia's "troubling behaviour and actions" in a parting statement after being fired by President Donald Trump.
He pointedly failed to thank Mr Trump or praise his policies.
The former ExxonMobil chief had a series of public rifts with the White House after being appointed last year.
Mr Trump officially fired Mr Tillerson via Twitter, naming CIA Director Mike Pompeo as his replacement.
Where it went wrong for Rex
Mr Trump also named Gina Haspel to become the CIA's first female director.
How did Tillerson react?
Speaking to reporters at the Department of State, Mr Tillerson said good work had been done to have better relations with China, and rein in North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.
From "moron" to "castration": a history of Trump v Tillerson bust-ups
But he added: "Much work remains to respond to the troubling behaviour and actions on the part of the Russian government.
"Russia must assess carefully as to how its actions are in the best interest of the Russian people and of the world more broadly. Continuing on their current trajectory is likely to lead to greater isolation on their part, a situation which is not in anyone's interest."
Sounding breathless and looking shaken, Mr Tillerson said he had spoken to the president to ensure clarity in the days ahead.
Although Mr Tillerson will not officially leave until 31 March, his deputy John Sullivan will take over running the state department pending the confirmation of Mr Pompeo.
"What is most important is to ensure an orderly and smooth transition during a time that the country continues to face significant policy and national security challenges," Mr Tillerson said.
What was Trump's reason?
@realDonaldTrump
Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!
11:44 PM - Mar 13, 2018
Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Tuesday, Mr Trump said his differences with Mr Tillerson came down to personal "chemistry".
"We got along actually quite well, but we disagreed on things," said the president.
"When you look at the Iran deal, I think it's terrible. I guess he thought it was OK.
"With Mike, Mike Pompeo, we have a very similar thought process. I think it's going to go very well."
Mr Tillerson is the latest in a long list of senior officials who have either resigned or been fired since Mr Trump took office.
The White House revolving door: Who's gone?
'You're fired!' - A reality TV White House?
How was Tillerson fired?
The White House and Mr Tillerson have had a series of public disagreements - and that continued until the very end.
The two sides have offered different accounts of when the secretary of state was told he was being fired.
The White House insists Mr Tillerson received a phone call on Friday from Chief of Staff John Kelly, who told him that he was being let go.
They say Mr Tillerson then asked if the announcement could be held until his return from a tour of Africa.
The top US diplomat's team said he felt unwell on Saturday and decided to cut short his tour by a day.
His firing was reported by the Washington Post on Tuesday before any tweet was sent, according to a White House official.
But a statement released by Under Secretary Steve Goldstein implied that Mr Tillerson was first made aware of his firing by President Trump's tweet.
"The secretary did not speak to the president and is unaware of the reason," he said. After this statement was released Mr Goldstein himself was fired by the White House.
Mr Tillerson also said he received a call from the president about three hours after Mr Trump sent a tweet announcing his departure.
Rex Tillerson - Trump's former top diplomat
Reaction to his firing
The odd couple of politics no more
Analysis by Jon Sopel, BBC North America editor
The end was a perfect metaphor for the relationship. The odd couple of politics had been yoked together for too long.
Men of different temperaments, demeanour and style had reached a parting of the ways.
The secretary of state landed back at Joint Base Andrews to have a member of staff inform him that the president had tweeted.
Because Mr Tillerson is not on Twitter, the tweet had to be printed out. Fancy being the one tasked with handing that over to the boss. Fired by a tweet.
The career of a one-time giant of corporate America had come to an ignominious end.
Mike Pompeo: Meet America's new top diplomat
Who are the nominees?
A US Senate report found that Ms Haspel ran a CIA prison in Thailand where prisoners were waterboarded in 2002.
The CIA deputy director was also accused of destroying dozens of videotapes of interrogations at the camp.
Gina Haspel - first female CIA director nominee
Mr Pompeo is a hardline conservative former lawmaker from Kansas and a Trump loyalist.
In 2014, he defended the CIA officers who waterboarded detainees as "patriots".
Mike Pompeo - Trump's loyalist new diplomat
Both the new secretary of state and CIA director will have to be confirmed by the Senate.
What did Trump and Tillerson disagree on?
Reports had swirled since last year of a rift between the commander-in-chief and his top diplomat.
Last October Mr Tillerson was forced to convene a news conference to deny claims he planned to quit, though he did not address a report that he had referred to his boss as a "moron" after a Pentagon meeting.
Trump says goodbye to Tillerson: 'I like Rex a lot, but we disagreed'
Mr Trump also publicly undercut the former Texas oilman by tweeting that he was "wasting his time" trying to negotiate with North Korea.
In December, the secretary of state offered to begin direct talks with Pyongyang without preconditions.
Battles ahead after another sacking from Trump Cabinet
The White House - which insisted North Korea must first accept any negotiations would be about giving up its nuclear arsenal - distanced itself from his remarks.
Mr Tillerson was reported to be astonished at how little Mr Trump grasped the basics of foreign policy.
14 March 2018
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Rex Tillerson: "I will now return to private life"
Sacked US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has warned of Russia's "troubling behaviour and actions" in a parting statement after being fired by President Donald Trump.
He pointedly failed to thank Mr Trump or praise his policies.
The former ExxonMobil chief had a series of public rifts with the White House after being appointed last year.
Mr Trump officially fired Mr Tillerson via Twitter, naming CIA Director Mike Pompeo as his replacement.
Where it went wrong for Rex
Mr Trump also named Gina Haspel to become the CIA's first female director.
How did Tillerson react?
Speaking to reporters at the Department of State, Mr Tillerson said good work had been done to have better relations with China, and rein in North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.
From "moron" to "castration": a history of Trump v Tillerson bust-ups
But he added: "Much work remains to respond to the troubling behaviour and actions on the part of the Russian government.
"Russia must assess carefully as to how its actions are in the best interest of the Russian people and of the world more broadly. Continuing on their current trajectory is likely to lead to greater isolation on their part, a situation which is not in anyone's interest."
Sounding breathless and looking shaken, Mr Tillerson said he had spoken to the president to ensure clarity in the days ahead.
Although Mr Tillerson will not officially leave until 31 March, his deputy John Sullivan will take over running the state department pending the confirmation of Mr Pompeo.
"What is most important is to ensure an orderly and smooth transition during a time that the country continues to face significant policy and national security challenges," Mr Tillerson said.
What was Trump's reason?
@realDonaldTrump
Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!
11:44 PM - Mar 13, 2018
Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Tuesday, Mr Trump said his differences with Mr Tillerson came down to personal "chemistry".
"We got along actually quite well, but we disagreed on things," said the president.
"When you look at the Iran deal, I think it's terrible. I guess he thought it was OK.
"With Mike, Mike Pompeo, we have a very similar thought process. I think it's going to go very well."
Mr Tillerson is the latest in a long list of senior officials who have either resigned or been fired since Mr Trump took office.
The White House revolving door: Who's gone?
'You're fired!' - A reality TV White House?
How was Tillerson fired?
The White House and Mr Tillerson have had a series of public disagreements - and that continued until the very end.
The two sides have offered different accounts of when the secretary of state was told he was being fired.
The White House insists Mr Tillerson received a phone call on Friday from Chief of Staff John Kelly, who told him that he was being let go.
They say Mr Tillerson then asked if the announcement could be held until his return from a tour of Africa.
The top US diplomat's team said he felt unwell on Saturday and decided to cut short his tour by a day.
His firing was reported by the Washington Post on Tuesday before any tweet was sent, according to a White House official.
But a statement released by Under Secretary Steve Goldstein implied that Mr Tillerson was first made aware of his firing by President Trump's tweet.
"The secretary did not speak to the president and is unaware of the reason," he said. After this statement was released Mr Goldstein himself was fired by the White House.
Mr Tillerson also said he received a call from the president about three hours after Mr Trump sent a tweet announcing his departure.
Rex Tillerson - Trump's former top diplomat
Reaction to his firing
The odd couple of politics no more
Analysis by Jon Sopel, BBC North America editor
The end was a perfect metaphor for the relationship. The odd couple of politics had been yoked together for too long.
Men of different temperaments, demeanour and style had reached a parting of the ways.
The secretary of state landed back at Joint Base Andrews to have a member of staff inform him that the president had tweeted.
Because Mr Tillerson is not on Twitter, the tweet had to be printed out. Fancy being the one tasked with handing that over to the boss. Fired by a tweet.
The career of a one-time giant of corporate America had come to an ignominious end.
Mike Pompeo: Meet America's new top diplomat
Who are the nominees?
A US Senate report found that Ms Haspel ran a CIA prison in Thailand where prisoners were waterboarded in 2002.
The CIA deputy director was also accused of destroying dozens of videotapes of interrogations at the camp.
Gina Haspel - first female CIA director nominee
Mr Pompeo is a hardline conservative former lawmaker from Kansas and a Trump loyalist.
In 2014, he defended the CIA officers who waterboarded detainees as "patriots".
Mike Pompeo - Trump's loyalist new diplomat
Both the new secretary of state and CIA director will have to be confirmed by the Senate.
What did Trump and Tillerson disagree on?
Reports had swirled since last year of a rift between the commander-in-chief and his top diplomat.
Last October Mr Tillerson was forced to convene a news conference to deny claims he planned to quit, though he did not address a report that he had referred to his boss as a "moron" after a Pentagon meeting.
Trump says goodbye to Tillerson: 'I like Rex a lot, but we disagreed'
Mr Trump also publicly undercut the former Texas oilman by tweeting that he was "wasting his time" trying to negotiate with North Korea.
In December, the secretary of state offered to begin direct talks with Pyongyang without preconditions.
Battles ahead after another sacking from Trump Cabinet
The White House - which insisted North Korea must first accept any negotiations would be about giving up its nuclear arsenal - distanced itself from his remarks.
Mr Tillerson was reported to be astonished at how little Mr Trump grasped the basics of foreign policy.
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