April 25, 2018
Early in his career, Bill Gates memorized the license plates of every employee to keep tabs on them
Ruth Umoh | @ruthumohnews
Establishing work-life balance may be all the rage among employers right now, but it wasn't a priority for Bill Gates during Microsoft's early years.
In a 2016 interview with BBC Radio 4, Gates shared just how work-obsessed he used to be. "I was quite fanatical about work," he said. "I worked weekends. I didn't really believe in vacations."
Unsurprisingly, this work ethic transferred to employees. "I had to be a little careful not to apply my standards on to how hard they worked," he said.
However, that didn't stop him from tracking which employees were working the longest hours. "I knew everybody's license plates so I could look out in the parking lot and see when did people come in [and] when were they leaving," Gates told the BBC.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen said as much in a 2011 first-person article for Vanity Fair. "Microsoft was a high-stress environment because Bill drove others as hard as he drove himself," wrote Allen. "He was growing into the taskmaster who would prowl the parking lot on weekends to see who'd made it in."
Though Microsoft has become tremendously successful, with some analysts predicting a $1 trillion market cap by next year, most experts agree that micromanaging employees is an ineffective leadership strategy.
A good entrepreneur is never happy, says one CEO who climbed the ranks to success A good entrepreneur is never happy, says one CEO who climbed the ranks to success
"Working for a micromanager can be a suffocating experience," says career expert Amanda Augustine of TopResume.
Additionally, a majority of employees say being a micromanager is the worst trait a boss can have, according to a recent Comparably survey of over 2,000 employees at tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook and Uber.
Microsoft employees felt the same way at the time. "People were already busting their tails," Allen wrote in his Vanity Fair piece, "and it got under their skin when Bill hectored them into doing more."
Allen shared an anecdote of a former Microsoft employee, named Bob Greenberg, who worked 81 hours in four days to finish a project. Toward the end of the work week, Gates asked Greenberg what he'd be working on the next day. Greenberg notified Gates that he planned on taking the following day off, to which Gates replied, "Why would you want to do that?"
"He genuinely couldn't understand it," wrote Allen. "He never seemed to need to recharge."
Though studies have found differing results on the importance of work-life balance, most highly successful people, like former First Lady Michelle Obama and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, agree that carving time out for yourself is critical to your professional and personal well-being.
In his BBC Radio 4 interview, Gates admitted that he was forced to change his controlling nature as Microsoft expanded. "Eventually, I had to loosen up as the company got to a reasonable size," he said.
But if you have a boss who's management style is similar to the billionaire's in his early years, there is one way to mitigate this, says career expert Amanda Augustine: Send constant updates.
"When you overshare and keep your manager in the loop," she explains, "they're more likely to trust you've got everything under control and back off."
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Iran nuclear deal: Rouhani says West has no right to make changes - BBC News
April 25, 2018
Iran nuclear deal: Rouhani says West has no right to make changes
Hassan Rouhani has warned of "severe consequences" if the US reimposes sanctions
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has questioned the legitimacy of efforts by the US and its European allies to change a nuclear deal with his country.
The US and French leaders announced on Tuesday that they were working on a "new deal" that would expand and extend the terms of the 2015 accord.
But Mr Rouhani said they had no "right" to renegotiate a seven-party agreement.
He also dismissed US President Donald Trump as a "tradesman" not qualified to comment on global treaties.
"You don't have any background in politics," he said. "You don't have any background in law. You don't have any background on international treaties."
Mr Trump has said the US will reimpose sanctions on Iran suspended under the deal on 12 May unless Congress and European powers fix its "disastrous flaws".
The five other parties to the accord - France, the UK, Germany, China and Russia - see it as the best way to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and want Mr Trump to continue waiving the sanctions while they try to address his concerns.
Could the Iran nuclear deal collapse?
What is the Iran nuclear deal?
Oil at $75 as Iran sanction fears mount
Before holding talks with French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House on Tuesday, Mr Trump called the deal "insane" and left it unclear what would happen next month.
He also warned Iranian leaders that they would "have bigger problems than they have ever had before" if they restarted their nuclear programme.
Trump and Macron's touching moments
Afterwards, Mr Macron told a joint news conference that the deal was "not sufficient" but gave Western powers some control over Iranian nuclear activities.
"We therefore wish, from now on, to work on a new deal with Iran," he said.
Based on their discussions, Mr Macron added, it would "need to cover four topics":
Blocking any nuclear activity until 2025 - a period covered by the current accord
Making sure there is no Iranian nuclear activity "in the long run"
Halting Iran's development and testing of ballistic missiles, which Western powers say have been taking place in violation the current deal
Generating "a political solution to contain" Iran in the wider Middle East, where it is directly or indirectly involved in several conflicts
Mr Trump said: "I think we will have a great shot at doing a much bigger maybe deal, maybe not deal. We're going to find out, but we'll know fairly soon."
The US says Iran has violated the nuclear deal by testing ballistic missiles - a charge it denies
It was not clear whether Iran would have any say on the agreement being worked on by US and European officials, but its president poured scorn on Mr Macron's proposals in a televised speech in the city of Tabriz on Wednesday.
"Together with a leader of a European country [the Americans] say: 'We want to decide on an agreement reached by seven parties,'" Mr Rouhani said. "For what? With what right?"
Mr Rouhani also dismissed Mr Trump's "empty" threats to punish Iran if it restarted its nuclear programme in response to sanctions being reimposed.
"We will be taking very important steps regarding our nuclear technology," he added. "Our activities will be very different than the past, but will be peaceful."
International inspectors have certified that Iran is fulfilling its nuclear-related commitments
"We are not thinking about developing nuclear weapons, nor will we think about it."
The European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, meanwhile said the current nuclear deal was working.
"On what can happen in the future we'll see in the future, but there is one deal existing. It's working, it needs to be preserved," she told reporters in Brussels.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was also in favour of keeping the deal in its current form because it believed "no alternative exists".
Iran nuclear deal: Rouhani says West has no right to make changes
Hassan Rouhani has warned of "severe consequences" if the US reimposes sanctions
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has questioned the legitimacy of efforts by the US and its European allies to change a nuclear deal with his country.
The US and French leaders announced on Tuesday that they were working on a "new deal" that would expand and extend the terms of the 2015 accord.
But Mr Rouhani said they had no "right" to renegotiate a seven-party agreement.
He also dismissed US President Donald Trump as a "tradesman" not qualified to comment on global treaties.
"You don't have any background in politics," he said. "You don't have any background in law. You don't have any background on international treaties."
Mr Trump has said the US will reimpose sanctions on Iran suspended under the deal on 12 May unless Congress and European powers fix its "disastrous flaws".
The five other parties to the accord - France, the UK, Germany, China and Russia - see it as the best way to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and want Mr Trump to continue waiving the sanctions while they try to address his concerns.
Could the Iran nuclear deal collapse?
What is the Iran nuclear deal?
Oil at $75 as Iran sanction fears mount
Before holding talks with French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House on Tuesday, Mr Trump called the deal "insane" and left it unclear what would happen next month.
He also warned Iranian leaders that they would "have bigger problems than they have ever had before" if they restarted their nuclear programme.
Trump and Macron's touching moments
Afterwards, Mr Macron told a joint news conference that the deal was "not sufficient" but gave Western powers some control over Iranian nuclear activities.
"We therefore wish, from now on, to work on a new deal with Iran," he said.
Based on their discussions, Mr Macron added, it would "need to cover four topics":
Blocking any nuclear activity until 2025 - a period covered by the current accord
Making sure there is no Iranian nuclear activity "in the long run"
Halting Iran's development and testing of ballistic missiles, which Western powers say have been taking place in violation the current deal
Generating "a political solution to contain" Iran in the wider Middle East, where it is directly or indirectly involved in several conflicts
Mr Trump said: "I think we will have a great shot at doing a much bigger maybe deal, maybe not deal. We're going to find out, but we'll know fairly soon."
The US says Iran has violated the nuclear deal by testing ballistic missiles - a charge it denies
It was not clear whether Iran would have any say on the agreement being worked on by US and European officials, but its president poured scorn on Mr Macron's proposals in a televised speech in the city of Tabriz on Wednesday.
"Together with a leader of a European country [the Americans] say: 'We want to decide on an agreement reached by seven parties,'" Mr Rouhani said. "For what? With what right?"
Mr Rouhani also dismissed Mr Trump's "empty" threats to punish Iran if it restarted its nuclear programme in response to sanctions being reimposed.
"We will be taking very important steps regarding our nuclear technology," he added. "Our activities will be very different than the past, but will be peaceful."
International inspectors have certified that Iran is fulfilling its nuclear-related commitments
"We are not thinking about developing nuclear weapons, nor will we think about it."
The European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, meanwhile said the current nuclear deal was working.
"On what can happen in the future we'll see in the future, but there is one deal existing. It's working, it needs to be preserved," she told reporters in Brussels.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was also in favour of keeping the deal in its current form because it believed "no alternative exists".
The key players attending North Korea-South Korea summit - MSNBC News
The key players attending North Korea-South Korea summit
A brief guide to who will be pulling the strings behind the scenes as Moon Jae-in meets Kim Jong Un for the first time.
by Mac William Bishop / Apr.25.2018 / 10:34 PM ET / Updated 10:54 PM ET
Activists wearing masks featuring the faces of South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un show their support for the looming inter-Korean summit at a rally in Seoul on Wednesday.Jung Yeon-je / AFP - Getty Images
SEOUL — North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet for the first time at a historic summit beginning Friday.
The neighbors technically remain at war.
The meeting will be held in the Joint Security Area, a part of the Demilitarized Zone between the two countries where an armistice which stopped fighting on the Korean Peninsula was originally signed in 1953. No peace treaty followed to formally end the Korean War, an issue Kim's regime wants to rectify.
A meeting room that will host this week's inter-Korean summit.HANDOUT / AFP - Getty Images
One of the key issues to be addressed is North Korea’s nuclear program, which has been at the center of tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang, as well alarming China and the United States.
The looming inter-Korean meeting precedes an equally high-stakes diplomatic gambit involving President Donald Trump and Kim. However, the date and location for that summit remains unclear.
Behind the high-profile names at Friday's meeting are a host of policymakers with histories of backroom deals and influencers who advise their respective leaders on strategy.
Here is a brief guide to who will be pulling the strings behind the scenes.
NORTH KOREA
Kim Jong Un, supreme leader: If the current overture bears fruit, it will be one of the ironies of history that Kim Jong Un’s bloody consolidation of power provided him with the impunity to pursue peace with his nation’s mortal enemy, the United States. Believed to have ordered the deaths of anyone viewed as a potential threat to his rule, Kim also personally oversaw the acceleration of North Korea’s nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile programs. The biggest question now is whether he is actually willing to cede ground on what has been North Korea’s long-held ambition to be a nuclear power.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.AFP - Getty Images file
Ri Su Yong, vice chairman of the Central Committee: Ri Su Yong’s ties to Kim Jong Un go back to the days when the future supreme leader was a student in Switzerland. A former foreign minister, Ri Su Yong’s unimposing title belies the fact that he supervises North Korea’s foreign policy, and retains Kim’s ear on foreign affairs, particularly with regard to the U.S.
Kim Yong Nam, president of the People’s Assembly: Described as second only to Kim Jong Un, the elderly Kim Yong Nam has been the public face of North Korea and carried out high-stakes diplomatic missions around the world, including attending the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the PyeongChang Olympics earlier this year.
Ri Yong Ho, minister of foreign affairs: A diplomat with a 30-year career behind him, Ri Yong Ho is a former ambassador to the United Kingdom. Fluent in English, only last year Ri stood in front of the U.N. General Assembly and called Trump “President Evil” and “Commander-in-Grief.”
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho.SERGEI CHIRIKOV
Kim Yong Chul, head of national intelligence: A former four-star general, Kim Yong Chul is a hardliner who South Korean intelligence believes ordered the sinking of the South Korean navy vessel in 2010, killing 46 sailors. Eight years later, he was heading North Korea’s delegation to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. He served as a bodyguard to Kim's father Kim Jong Il, and has been in intelligence for more than 30 years, and was also the lead military negotiator with South Korea during previous inter-Korean talks that ended in 2008.
SOUTH KOREA
President Moon Jae-in: The liberal Moon swept into power after the divisive impeachment of his predecessor, and promised to pursue better relations with his northern neighbor. A human rights lawyer by trade, Moon was imprisoned as a student for his role in protesting against military strongman Park Chung-hee. Moon also served in South Korea’s special forces in the DMZ during a period of exceptionally high tensions. He promised to pursue a policy toward North Korea following in the pattern of the “Sunshine Policy” of his liberal predecessors. His challenge has been to persuade the Trump administration — and conservatives inside South Korea — of his dedication to the Seoul-Washington alliance.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in.Kim Min-Hee
Chung Eui-yong, director of the national security office: Chung’s role is similar to that of national security adviser in the United States. After being named special envoy to North Korea by Moon, Chung shuttled back and forth between Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington laying the groundwork for the proposed summit between Kim and Trump.
Suh Hoon, director of national intelligence: South Korea’s top spy has been the architect of previous summits involving North Korea, and is viewed as an honest broker by Pyongyang. In the 1990s he lived in North Korea for two years, working on an international agreement that would have supplied the country with a non-military nuclear power reactor. Having studied at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies, Suh is also comfortable in Washington D.C., where he is well-known and respected.
Unification flags are put up near Unification Bridge in Paju, South Korea, on Wednesday.Lee Jin-man / AP
Moon Chung-in, special adviser to the president on national security: A prolific writer on foreign affairs and national security, Moon Chung-in was tasked by South Korea's president with an advisory portfolio that included unification and national security. Having studied for his master’s degree and doctorate in the U.S. during the 1970s, he also taught at the University of Kentucky and Duke University before returning to South Korea.
A brief guide to who will be pulling the strings behind the scenes as Moon Jae-in meets Kim Jong Un for the first time.
by Mac William Bishop / Apr.25.2018 / 10:34 PM ET / Updated 10:54 PM ET
Activists wearing masks featuring the faces of South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un show their support for the looming inter-Korean summit at a rally in Seoul on Wednesday.Jung Yeon-je / AFP - Getty Images
SEOUL — North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet for the first time at a historic summit beginning Friday.
The neighbors technically remain at war.
The meeting will be held in the Joint Security Area, a part of the Demilitarized Zone between the two countries where an armistice which stopped fighting on the Korean Peninsula was originally signed in 1953. No peace treaty followed to formally end the Korean War, an issue Kim's regime wants to rectify.
A meeting room that will host this week's inter-Korean summit.HANDOUT / AFP - Getty Images
One of the key issues to be addressed is North Korea’s nuclear program, which has been at the center of tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang, as well alarming China and the United States.
The looming inter-Korean meeting precedes an equally high-stakes diplomatic gambit involving President Donald Trump and Kim. However, the date and location for that summit remains unclear.
Behind the high-profile names at Friday's meeting are a host of policymakers with histories of backroom deals and influencers who advise their respective leaders on strategy.
Here is a brief guide to who will be pulling the strings behind the scenes.
NORTH KOREA
Kim Jong Un, supreme leader: If the current overture bears fruit, it will be one of the ironies of history that Kim Jong Un’s bloody consolidation of power provided him with the impunity to pursue peace with his nation’s mortal enemy, the United States. Believed to have ordered the deaths of anyone viewed as a potential threat to his rule, Kim also personally oversaw the acceleration of North Korea’s nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile programs. The biggest question now is whether he is actually willing to cede ground on what has been North Korea’s long-held ambition to be a nuclear power.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.AFP - Getty Images file
Ri Su Yong, vice chairman of the Central Committee: Ri Su Yong’s ties to Kim Jong Un go back to the days when the future supreme leader was a student in Switzerland. A former foreign minister, Ri Su Yong’s unimposing title belies the fact that he supervises North Korea’s foreign policy, and retains Kim’s ear on foreign affairs, particularly with regard to the U.S.
Kim Yong Nam, president of the People’s Assembly: Described as second only to Kim Jong Un, the elderly Kim Yong Nam has been the public face of North Korea and carried out high-stakes diplomatic missions around the world, including attending the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the PyeongChang Olympics earlier this year.
Ri Yong Ho, minister of foreign affairs: A diplomat with a 30-year career behind him, Ri Yong Ho is a former ambassador to the United Kingdom. Fluent in English, only last year Ri stood in front of the U.N. General Assembly and called Trump “President Evil” and “Commander-in-Grief.”
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho.SERGEI CHIRIKOV
Kim Yong Chul, head of national intelligence: A former four-star general, Kim Yong Chul is a hardliner who South Korean intelligence believes ordered the sinking of the South Korean navy vessel in 2010, killing 46 sailors. Eight years later, he was heading North Korea’s delegation to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. He served as a bodyguard to Kim's father Kim Jong Il, and has been in intelligence for more than 30 years, and was also the lead military negotiator with South Korea during previous inter-Korean talks that ended in 2008.
SOUTH KOREA
President Moon Jae-in: The liberal Moon swept into power after the divisive impeachment of his predecessor, and promised to pursue better relations with his northern neighbor. A human rights lawyer by trade, Moon was imprisoned as a student for his role in protesting against military strongman Park Chung-hee. Moon also served in South Korea’s special forces in the DMZ during a period of exceptionally high tensions. He promised to pursue a policy toward North Korea following in the pattern of the “Sunshine Policy” of his liberal predecessors. His challenge has been to persuade the Trump administration — and conservatives inside South Korea — of his dedication to the Seoul-Washington alliance.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in.Kim Min-Hee
Chung Eui-yong, director of the national security office: Chung’s role is similar to that of national security adviser in the United States. After being named special envoy to North Korea by Moon, Chung shuttled back and forth between Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington laying the groundwork for the proposed summit between Kim and Trump.
Suh Hoon, director of national intelligence: South Korea’s top spy has been the architect of previous summits involving North Korea, and is viewed as an honest broker by Pyongyang. In the 1990s he lived in North Korea for two years, working on an international agreement that would have supplied the country with a non-military nuclear power reactor. Having studied at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies, Suh is also comfortable in Washington D.C., where he is well-known and respected.
Unification flags are put up near Unification Bridge in Paju, South Korea, on Wednesday.Lee Jin-man / AP
Moon Chung-in, special adviser to the president on national security: A prolific writer on foreign affairs and national security, Moon Chung-in was tasked by South Korea's president with an advisory portfolio that included unification and national security. Having studied for his master’s degree and doctorate in the U.S. during the 1970s, he also taught at the University of Kentucky and Duke University before returning to South Korea.
Google’s CEO Could Be $380 Million Richer By the End of the Week - TIME Business
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Posted: 23 Apr 2018 07:08 AM PDT
Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai is about to have a very big week. On Wednesday, an award of 353,939 restricted shares he received before a promotion in 2014 will vest. At the end of last week, the grant was worth about $380 million, making it one of the largest single payouts to a public company executive in recent years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Pichai, 45, who has led Alphabet Inc.’s Google since 2015, received the shares before his promotion to senior vice president of products a year earlier, when he took over many of co-founder Larry Page’s responsibilities. The award swelled in value as Alphabet’s stock surged 90 percent since the grant date, compared with a 39 percent advance of the S&P 500. He has received two more nine-figure stock grants since then. The company has yet to disclose Pichai’s compensation for 2017. Winnie King, a spokeswoman for the Mountain View, California-based company, declined to comment. In 2016, CEOs of S&P 500 companies realized an average of $16.2 million from shares that vested or exercising stock options, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Other tech executives have received hefty payouts in the past. Facebook Inc.’s Mark Zuckerberg reaped $2.28 billion when he exercised 60 million options as part of the company’s initial public offering in August 2012. Months later, restricted shares worth $822 million held by his deputy Sheryl Sandberg fully vested. In 2016, Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk collected $1.34 billion after exercising 6.71 million options that were close to expiring, in part to cover a $593 million tax bill. That same year, Monster Beverage Corp.’s two top executives took in a combined $598 million thanks to the stock rising an average of 30 percent a year for a decade. |
EPA Head Scott Pruitt Has Been Embroiled in Scandals. Here's How He's Survived - TIME
EPA Head Scott Pruitt Has Been Embroiled in Scandals. Here's How He's Survived
By JUSTIN WORLAND April 24, 2018
Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt has been ensnared in an ever-growing list of ethics scandals for the past several weeks, leading environmental groups, ethics watchdogs and members of Congress to call for him to resign.
But to conservative backers of President Donald Trump, the scandals pale in comparison to Pruitt’s accomplishments tearing down environmental regulations they dislike.
“At the end of the day what I’m looking at is not what they’re writing in the New York Times,” says Tim Huelskamp, a former Republican Congressman who now heads the conservative Heartland Institute. “I’m looking at what he’s doing in his job and he’s been very effective at that.”
If Pruitt survives the latest round of negative coverage, it will be because this sentiment is shared by some of Trump’s big business backers as well as voters who work in affected industries like farming and coal mining.
Pruitt’s troubles began in late March with an ABC News report that he had rented a condo in D.C. co-owned by the wife of a top energy lobbyist. They deepened with reports that he had spent $43,000 on a soundproof booth in his office in violation of spending rules, defied the White House to give large raises to top aides and sidelined agency staffers who raised concerns.
On Thursday, he’ll face tough questions about his conduct at a pair of hearings on his agency’s budget proposal on Capitol Hill. After a poor performance during a grilling on Fox News, any missteps at the hearings could put his job in peril.
But all indications right now are that Pruitt will survive the scandals, in part because the president is happy with his work.
Speaking at the daily press briefing on Monday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders gave Pruitt solid marks on his work, though she didn’t entirely dismiss his problems.
“We’re reviewing some of those allegations,” she said. “However, Administrator Pruitt has done a good job of implementing the President’s policies, particularly on deregulation; making the United States less energy-dependent and becoming more energy independent.”
Marc Short, the White House legislative director, put it more succinctly on “Meet the Press” Sunday. “Scott Pruitt is doing a phenomenal job, and the President is happy with him,” he said.
Trump, who has long been a critic of environmental regulations, has much to be pleased with. The list of policies targeted by the EPA under Pruitt includes everything from repealing the Clean Power Plan, the chief Obama-era measure aimed at fighting climate change, to reversing a ban on chlorpyrifos, a potentially hazardous pesticide. Even on Tuesday, days before Pruitt will face blistering criticism in Congressional testimony, he formally announced his latest policy move from the playbook of far-right conservative groups restricting the science the agency uses — a move scientists say would cripple the agency’s future policymaking ability.
Outside conservative circles, Pruitt has been criticized for executing some of these maneuvers in a sloppy fashion that leaves them vulnerable to legal challenges. And some observers have noted that he hasn’t completed the long and winding regulatory process that will lead to the regulations’ full repeal, which means it may be too early for his supporters to celebrate.
But these critiques set the bar too high. Pruitt has reversed the trajectory at the EPA and placed business concerns on an even playing field with environmental protection. And, as a result, the most significant rules, including the Clean Power Plan and a rule regulating waterways across the country, are essentially no more. Career staffers are in limbo after 1,000 left in the first fiscal year of the Trump Administration and the agency has slowed enforcement, says Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a nonprofit that represents employees at government agencies that deal with the environment.
No matter what sticks from Pruitt’s deregulatory agenda — and some of its most important elements certainly will — changing course will be difficult when the next president comes to town. “It’s true that he has suffered a few defeats,” says Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. “But he’s still had a significantly negative impact on our air, our water and certainly our climate.”
More significantly for Trump, the president’s supporters are satisfied.
Coal executive Bob Murray, whose company Murray Energy donated at least $1 million to a Trump-supporting super PAC last year, dismissed the criticism as “much ado about nothing” in an interview with TIME earlier this month. Murray had asked the Pruitt to repeal the Clean Power Plan along with other regulations, which Pruitt has subsequently targeted. It’s “simply a criticism by liberals of the star of the Trump administration,” he said. “He’s done more for America and the right wing than any other appointee.”
Beyond supporting the coal industry, Pruitt has taken a number of steps to help key Trump constituencies. In a trip to Morocco, he promoted U.S. liquified natural gas exports. Carl Icahn, who gave $200,000 to Trump’s victory fund in 2016, owns a controlling stake in the biggest U.S. exporter of liquefied natural gas. Dow Chemical donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee and the company’s CEO maintained close ties with Trump. Pruitt delivered the company a big win when he halted the ban on chlorpyrifos, a pesticide sold by the company. Pruitt’s work targeting the Waters of the U.S. rule — which places many small waterways across the country under federal regulatory control — won praise from farmers and ranchers across the country.
Even with that support, Pruitt’s staying power is remarkable in a town where even the color of your suit can draw a firestorm of media criticism.
On top of the major controversies, the public has also learned in recent weeks that Pruitt instructed his security detail to use sirens when there was no emergency, brought his security detail with him on family trips, considered hiring a private jet service at the cost of $100,000 a month, considered changing the agency’s logo on agency souvenirs to include his name and a Bible verse and spent lavishly during his time as Oklahoma attorney general.
For Pruitt’s critics, the list of scandals is mind-boggling.
“We’re looking at the worst of the worst in the Trump Administration,” says Jordan Libowitz, communications director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group. “Any one of these scandals would be reason enough to fire him.”
By JUSTIN WORLAND April 24, 2018
Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt has been ensnared in an ever-growing list of ethics scandals for the past several weeks, leading environmental groups, ethics watchdogs and members of Congress to call for him to resign.
But to conservative backers of President Donald Trump, the scandals pale in comparison to Pruitt’s accomplishments tearing down environmental regulations they dislike.
“At the end of the day what I’m looking at is not what they’re writing in the New York Times,” says Tim Huelskamp, a former Republican Congressman who now heads the conservative Heartland Institute. “I’m looking at what he’s doing in his job and he’s been very effective at that.”
If Pruitt survives the latest round of negative coverage, it will be because this sentiment is shared by some of Trump’s big business backers as well as voters who work in affected industries like farming and coal mining.
Pruitt’s troubles began in late March with an ABC News report that he had rented a condo in D.C. co-owned by the wife of a top energy lobbyist. They deepened with reports that he had spent $43,000 on a soundproof booth in his office in violation of spending rules, defied the White House to give large raises to top aides and sidelined agency staffers who raised concerns.
On Thursday, he’ll face tough questions about his conduct at a pair of hearings on his agency’s budget proposal on Capitol Hill. After a poor performance during a grilling on Fox News, any missteps at the hearings could put his job in peril.
But all indications right now are that Pruitt will survive the scandals, in part because the president is happy with his work.
Speaking at the daily press briefing on Monday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders gave Pruitt solid marks on his work, though she didn’t entirely dismiss his problems.
“We’re reviewing some of those allegations,” she said. “However, Administrator Pruitt has done a good job of implementing the President’s policies, particularly on deregulation; making the United States less energy-dependent and becoming more energy independent.”
Marc Short, the White House legislative director, put it more succinctly on “Meet the Press” Sunday. “Scott Pruitt is doing a phenomenal job, and the President is happy with him,” he said.
Trump, who has long been a critic of environmental regulations, has much to be pleased with. The list of policies targeted by the EPA under Pruitt includes everything from repealing the Clean Power Plan, the chief Obama-era measure aimed at fighting climate change, to reversing a ban on chlorpyrifos, a potentially hazardous pesticide. Even on Tuesday, days before Pruitt will face blistering criticism in Congressional testimony, he formally announced his latest policy move from the playbook of far-right conservative groups restricting the science the agency uses — a move scientists say would cripple the agency’s future policymaking ability.
Outside conservative circles, Pruitt has been criticized for executing some of these maneuvers in a sloppy fashion that leaves them vulnerable to legal challenges. And some observers have noted that he hasn’t completed the long and winding regulatory process that will lead to the regulations’ full repeal, which means it may be too early for his supporters to celebrate.
But these critiques set the bar too high. Pruitt has reversed the trajectory at the EPA and placed business concerns on an even playing field with environmental protection. And, as a result, the most significant rules, including the Clean Power Plan and a rule regulating waterways across the country, are essentially no more. Career staffers are in limbo after 1,000 left in the first fiscal year of the Trump Administration and the agency has slowed enforcement, says Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a nonprofit that represents employees at government agencies that deal with the environment.
No matter what sticks from Pruitt’s deregulatory agenda — and some of its most important elements certainly will — changing course will be difficult when the next president comes to town. “It’s true that he has suffered a few defeats,” says Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. “But he’s still had a significantly negative impact on our air, our water and certainly our climate.”
More significantly for Trump, the president’s supporters are satisfied.
Coal executive Bob Murray, whose company Murray Energy donated at least $1 million to a Trump-supporting super PAC last year, dismissed the criticism as “much ado about nothing” in an interview with TIME earlier this month. Murray had asked the Pruitt to repeal the Clean Power Plan along with other regulations, which Pruitt has subsequently targeted. It’s “simply a criticism by liberals of the star of the Trump administration,” he said. “He’s done more for America and the right wing than any other appointee.”
Beyond supporting the coal industry, Pruitt has taken a number of steps to help key Trump constituencies. In a trip to Morocco, he promoted U.S. liquified natural gas exports. Carl Icahn, who gave $200,000 to Trump’s victory fund in 2016, owns a controlling stake in the biggest U.S. exporter of liquefied natural gas. Dow Chemical donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee and the company’s CEO maintained close ties with Trump. Pruitt delivered the company a big win when he halted the ban on chlorpyrifos, a pesticide sold by the company. Pruitt’s work targeting the Waters of the U.S. rule — which places many small waterways across the country under federal regulatory control — won praise from farmers and ranchers across the country.
Even with that support, Pruitt’s staying power is remarkable in a town where even the color of your suit can draw a firestorm of media criticism.
On top of the major controversies, the public has also learned in recent weeks that Pruitt instructed his security detail to use sirens when there was no emergency, brought his security detail with him on family trips, considered hiring a private jet service at the cost of $100,000 a month, considered changing the agency’s logo on agency souvenirs to include his name and a Bible verse and spent lavishly during his time as Oklahoma attorney general.
For Pruitt’s critics, the list of scandals is mind-boggling.
“We’re looking at the worst of the worst in the Trump Administration,” says Jordan Libowitz, communications director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group. “Any one of these scandals would be reason enough to fire him.”
Facebook Results to Be Scoured for Evidence of User Defections - Bloomberg
Facebook Results to Be Scoured for Evidence of User Defections
By Sarah Frier and Jeran Wittenstein
April 25, 2018, 6:00 PM GMT+10
Facebook Inc. is on tap to report first-quarter results after the close of trading on Wednesday, and Wall Street will scour the numbers for any signs of user losses or a drop-off in advertiser spending.
The company’s shares have tumbled 10 percent this year, with much of the decline related to revelations in March that Facebook failed to safeguard the data of millions of users. Political-consulting firm Cambridge Analytica obtained information on as many as 87 million Facebook users in 2014 and then lied about deleting the data, Facebook has said. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has spoken about the social network’s efforts to improve privacy protection to users, journalists and U.S. Congress. Now he’ll need to address Wall Street.
Here’s a look at some of the numbers investors will monitor most closely:
User Growth
Zuckerberg has said the company has seen no meaningful impact from a social-media hashtag campaign aimed at encouraging users to delete their accounts.
The company is projected to report daily active users of 1.45 billion, the average of analyst estimates, compared with 1.4 billion in the fourth quarter. Monthly active users probably rose to 2.19 billion, analysts predicted. That’s up from 2.13 billion in the preceding period.
Facebook suffered its first-ever decline in North American users and said that time spent on its social network declined 5 percent in the December quarter. Investors will be on the lookout for whether the trends continued in the first three months of the year. Menlo Park, California-based Facebook attributed the drop in time spent to changes in how it surfaces information in the News Feed. The idea was to reduce time-wasting clutter and provide more "meaningful" social interaction, Facebook said. The question for analysts, though, will be whether the declines are truly Facebook’s own design or a reflection of user preference.
Revenue
Another concern confronting Facebook is whether companies will look to promote their brands and products elsewhere. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told Bloomberg News earlier this month that some advertisers -- "a few" -- had in fact paused spending. Even so, analysts are forecasting a 42 percent increase in sales, to $11.4 billion. Heather Bellini, of Goldman Sachs, said she expects “little to no impact” on advertising spending from the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Facebook’s net income likely increased to $1.38 a share, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Expenses
Facebook has also come under fire for its failure to stanch the spread of hate speech and false or misleading news. In response, the company has said it will ramp up spending on the staff needed to monitor what gets posted and spread around the social network. Costs related to increased staffing threaten to crimp profit margins. Analysts at MKM said that Facebook management will probably talk up aggressive efforts to identify and curtail misuse of data by third parties. "While we think that existing expense guidance offers plenty of room to support such efforts, we think that commentary to appease regulators and users is a higher priority for management than near-term comfort to investors” the analysts wrote in a recent report.
There are plenty of other, potentially more expensive reasons Facebook is boosting spending, aside from its efforts to regain the public’s trust. The company is shelling out money for content deals for its new video section, Facebook Watch, and investing in research and development in artificial intelligence and its hardware businesses.
By Sarah Frier and Jeran Wittenstein
April 25, 2018, 6:00 PM GMT+10
Facebook Inc. is on tap to report first-quarter results after the close of trading on Wednesday, and Wall Street will scour the numbers for any signs of user losses or a drop-off in advertiser spending.
The company’s shares have tumbled 10 percent this year, with much of the decline related to revelations in March that Facebook failed to safeguard the data of millions of users. Political-consulting firm Cambridge Analytica obtained information on as many as 87 million Facebook users in 2014 and then lied about deleting the data, Facebook has said. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has spoken about the social network’s efforts to improve privacy protection to users, journalists and U.S. Congress. Now he’ll need to address Wall Street.
Here’s a look at some of the numbers investors will monitor most closely:
User Growth
Zuckerberg has said the company has seen no meaningful impact from a social-media hashtag campaign aimed at encouraging users to delete their accounts.
The company is projected to report daily active users of 1.45 billion, the average of analyst estimates, compared with 1.4 billion in the fourth quarter. Monthly active users probably rose to 2.19 billion, analysts predicted. That’s up from 2.13 billion in the preceding period.
Facebook suffered its first-ever decline in North American users and said that time spent on its social network declined 5 percent in the December quarter. Investors will be on the lookout for whether the trends continued in the first three months of the year. Menlo Park, California-based Facebook attributed the drop in time spent to changes in how it surfaces information in the News Feed. The idea was to reduce time-wasting clutter and provide more "meaningful" social interaction, Facebook said. The question for analysts, though, will be whether the declines are truly Facebook’s own design or a reflection of user preference.
Revenue
Another concern confronting Facebook is whether companies will look to promote their brands and products elsewhere. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told Bloomberg News earlier this month that some advertisers -- "a few" -- had in fact paused spending. Even so, analysts are forecasting a 42 percent increase in sales, to $11.4 billion. Heather Bellini, of Goldman Sachs, said she expects “little to no impact” on advertising spending from the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Facebook’s net income likely increased to $1.38 a share, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Expenses
Facebook has also come under fire for its failure to stanch the spread of hate speech and false or misleading news. In response, the company has said it will ramp up spending on the staff needed to monitor what gets posted and spread around the social network. Costs related to increased staffing threaten to crimp profit margins. Analysts at MKM said that Facebook management will probably talk up aggressive efforts to identify and curtail misuse of data by third parties. "While we think that existing expense guidance offers plenty of room to support such efforts, we think that commentary to appease regulators and users is a higher priority for management than near-term comfort to investors” the analysts wrote in a recent report.
There are plenty of other, potentially more expensive reasons Facebook is boosting spending, aside from its efforts to regain the public’s trust. The company is shelling out money for content deals for its new video section, Facebook Watch, and investing in research and development in artificial intelligence and its hardware businesses.
Who are the 'incels' and how do they relate to the Toronto van attack? - Guardian
Who are the 'incels' and how do they relate to the Toronto van attack?
Suspect appears to have links to misogynistic online community for the ‘involuntarily celibate’
Alex Hern
@alexhern
Wed 25 Apr 2018 20.16 AEST First published on Wed 25 Apr 2018 19.25 AEST
A tribute left to the victims of the Toronto van attack
A tribute left to the victims of the Toronto van attack, in which 10 people died. Photograph: Stacey Newman/Rex/Shutterstock
Hours before the Toronto van attack, a post on the Facebook profile of the chief suspect declared that “the incel rebellion has already begun, we will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys”.
The message has brought new-found attention to the so-called incel movement, one of the stranger offshoots of the “alt right”, and led to calls for the attack to be recognised as an act of far-right terrorism.
What is the incel movement?
Incel is short for “involuntarily celibate”. The term rose to prominence because of its adoption by a subsection of the “manosphere”, a loose collection of movements united by misogyny that also includes some men’s rights activists, pick-up artists, and Mgtow/volcel – heterosexual men who refuse to have sex with women for political reasons.
Men who identify as incel tend to congregate on a few forums, including the message board 4chan, the forum SlutHate and, until the community was banned from the site, the incel page on Reddit.
They are united by the fact that women will not have sex with them, usually attributed to shallow obsessions with looks or superficial personality, and by their hatred of “Chads” and “Stacys”, the men and women who have sex.
What is the link to Elliot Rodger?
The Facebook message goes on to declare “all hail the supreme gentleman Elliot Rodger”. in 2014 in Isla Vista, California, leaving behind a lengthy manifesto that described his frustration at his inability to find a girlfriend, his hatred of women and his resentment of people in couples, particularly interracial pairs.
Rodger, who posted on SlutHate, which was then called PUAHate, was rapidly held up as a hero for the incel community, with the marked annually on the Incels subreddit, and people across the community expressing hope that someone else would follow in his footsteps. “I hope some brave incel surprises us before the end of the year,” one user on an Incel forum posted in January. Another replied: “Unless he can break the high score, it won’t be so much fun.”
How serious are incel movement members?
Like many movements, including the alt-right and the pizzagate conspiracy, which were born from the anonymous message board 4Chan, the incel movement is steeped in a form of irony that makes it difficult to pin down which beliefs are true, which are held ironically, and whether the distinction ultimately matters.
The leaked style guide of the neo-Nazi site the Daily Stormer, which takes a similar approach, made the strategy explicit: “The unindoctrinated should not be able to tell if we are joking or not … This is obviously a ploy.”
Indian guru Asaram Bapu found guilty of raping teenage girl - Guardian ( source : Associated Press )
Indian guru Asaram Bapu found guilty of raping teenage girl
Verdict read out inside prison in Jodhpur due to fears of violence from his followers
Associated Press in Delhi
Wed 25 Apr 2018 18.23 AEST Last modified on Wed 25 Apr 2018 18.38 AEST
Asaram Bapu
Asaram Bapu is escorted by police officers at Jodhpur airport in 2013. He has been in prison for five years.
An Indian court has found a guru guilty of raping a teenage girl in 2013.
The verdict against Asaram Bapu, 77, was read out inside a prison in Jodhpur due to fears that his followers might resort to violence. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
It is the latest high-profile rape case in India, following others that have fuelled public protests and raised questions about how police handle allegations and treat victims.
In August last year, another popular Indian guru, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, was for raping two female followers.
The judge, Madhusudhan Sharma, will announce the sentence for Bapu later after hearing arguments from the prosecution and his attorneys.
Bapu denied raping the girl and can appeal against his conviction in a higher court.
In her complaint to police in 2013, the girl accused Bapu of raping her when she visited his retreat in Jodhpur with her mother. Her family said they had been followers of Bapu for more than a decade.
Bapu has been in prison since his arrest in 2013.
On Wednesday, security was tight around the prison complex and in states where the guru has a strong following. Religious sects wield considerable political clout in India, with several politicians among gurus’ followers.
Bapu is on trial in a separate rape case along with his son, Narayan Sai. Two sisters have accused them of sexual assault.
Verdict read out inside prison in Jodhpur due to fears of violence from his followers
Associated Press in Delhi
Wed 25 Apr 2018 18.23 AEST Last modified on Wed 25 Apr 2018 18.38 AEST
Asaram Bapu
Asaram Bapu is escorted by police officers at Jodhpur airport in 2013. He has been in prison for five years.
An Indian court has found a guru guilty of raping a teenage girl in 2013.
The verdict against Asaram Bapu, 77, was read out inside a prison in Jodhpur due to fears that his followers might resort to violence. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
It is the latest high-profile rape case in India, following others that have fuelled public protests and raised questions about how police handle allegations and treat victims.
In August last year, another popular Indian guru, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, was for raping two female followers.
The judge, Madhusudhan Sharma, will announce the sentence for Bapu later after hearing arguments from the prosecution and his attorneys.
Bapu denied raping the girl and can appeal against his conviction in a higher court.
In her complaint to police in 2013, the girl accused Bapu of raping her when she visited his retreat in Jodhpur with her mother. Her family said they had been followers of Bapu for more than a decade.
Bapu has been in prison since his arrest in 2013.
On Wednesday, security was tight around the prison complex and in states where the guru has a strong following. Religious sects wield considerable political clout in India, with several politicians among gurus’ followers.
Bapu is on trial in a separate rape case along with his son, Narayan Sai. Two sisters have accused them of sexual assault.
Apple Will Start Paying Billions in Back Taxes to Ireland - Fortune
Apple Will Start Paying Billions in Back Taxes to Ireland
By DON REISINGER April 24, 2018
Apple will begin paying Ireland for back taxes next month as part of its battle with the European Union over alleged tax shelters.
The tech giant on Tuesday was expected to sign an agreement with Ireland finance minister Paschal Donohoe to set up a tax-repayment plan worth 13 billion euros ($15.9 billion), according to the Financial Times. Apple is expected to pay those back taxes in full by September. However, the funds will be held in escrow in Ireland until a case between Apple and the EU’s competition watchdog, the European Commission, is settled.
The Commission slapped Apple with its massive tax bill in 2016 after it charged the company with obtaining illegal state aid from Ireland to significantly reduce its tax burden. While both Apple and Ireland have said that the agreement between them was legal, the Commission argued that Apple has illegally sidestepped steep tax bills and must pay up.
Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter
Apple has said that it pays its fair share of taxes and in the U.S., is the biggest taxpayer. Apple CEO Tim Cook has called the Commission’s charges “maddening” and has promised to fight the case to its bitter end.
In December, however, Apple was ordered to pay the tax levy while it continues to battle its case in European courts. The cash will be kept in an escrow account, where it will stay until one side wins. That likely won’t happen anytime soon, however, since most industry experts believe the case will continue to be litigated for several years.
Apple did not immediately respond to a Fortune request for comment on the apparent escrow deal with Ireland.
By DON REISINGER April 24, 2018
Apple will begin paying Ireland for back taxes next month as part of its battle with the European Union over alleged tax shelters.
The tech giant on Tuesday was expected to sign an agreement with Ireland finance minister Paschal Donohoe to set up a tax-repayment plan worth 13 billion euros ($15.9 billion), according to the Financial Times. Apple is expected to pay those back taxes in full by September. However, the funds will be held in escrow in Ireland until a case between Apple and the EU’s competition watchdog, the European Commission, is settled.
The Commission slapped Apple with its massive tax bill in 2016 after it charged the company with obtaining illegal state aid from Ireland to significantly reduce its tax burden. While both Apple and Ireland have said that the agreement between them was legal, the Commission argued that Apple has illegally sidestepped steep tax bills and must pay up.
Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter
Apple has said that it pays its fair share of taxes and in the U.S., is the biggest taxpayer. Apple CEO Tim Cook has called the Commission’s charges “maddening” and has promised to fight the case to its bitter end.
In December, however, Apple was ordered to pay the tax levy while it continues to battle its case in European courts. The cash will be kept in an escrow account, where it will stay until one side wins. That likely won’t happen anytime soon, however, since most industry experts believe the case will continue to be litigated for several years.
Apple did not immediately respond to a Fortune request for comment on the apparent escrow deal with Ireland.
American Cities Are Fighting Big Business Over Wireless Internet, and They’re Losing - Bloomberg
American Cities Are Fighting Big Business Over Wireless Internet, and They’re Losing
“It’s often lost on the public just how badly they’re being screwed”
By
April 25, 2018, 7:01 PM GMT+10
Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Photographer: Zach Gibson
Big business is quietly trouncing cities in the fight over the future of the internet. The results of an obscure, bureaucratic battle inside the U.S. communications regulator could decide not only which Americans get ultra-fast internet but how much it’ll cost and even what city streetlights will look like.
On Wednesday, a committee created by the Federal Communications Commission will meet to frame the future of 5G, a technology that will make downloads dramatically faster on phones and perhaps replace home broadband for some. The group, with representatives of the business world outnumbering government officials four-to-one, may push for a vote on guidelines that have been under debate for more than a year.
It will be the first summit since Shireen Santosham and her boss quit in dismay. The city of San Jose, where Santosham works as chief innovation officer, resigned in late January from the wonky-sounding board, called the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee. New York City later followed. The process came to embody a nationwide effort by telecommunications companies, like AT&T Inc. and Sprint Corp., to establish business-friendly rules for their industry, Santosham and other city officials allege.
The FCC, with guidance from the committee, could make rules that will influence how 5G mobile internet is priced, how quickly it spreads around the country and whether local governments must subsidize the cost. The 5G system is meant to replace today’s mobile wireless technology, making it easier to stream high-definition video anywhere and enable new kinds of apps. The cellular networks will use frequencies that carry a lot of information but don’t travel very far. That means antennas need to be close together and will number in the hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions. They’ll be closer to shops and homes than today’s arrays atop cell towers.
The influence of Big Telecom inside the FCC has already spread into state capitols. More than a dozen states, mostly in Republican strongholds, have passed laws borrowing similar language from the 5G committee. U.S. lawmakers are drafting legislation along similar lines. “This is the biggest movement in broadband that we’ve seen in recent history,” Santosham said.
Santosham, a former McKinsey consultant, has been one of the most vocal agitators against the country’s telecom giants over the past year. Her office led committee work on behalf of San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, a Democrat selected to join a year ago. She served as his official proxy. The initiative was billed as a way to bring cities, states, companies and interest groups together to devise guidelines for updating telecom infrastructure, a move that paves the way for self-driving cars and a world where every device connects to the internet.
An hour before the FCC introduced the group to the public in April 2017, Santosham said she learned San Jose would be the only city represented. Eventually, the agency added officials from Lincoln, Nebraska, and Lenexa, Kansas, but they have always been outnumbered by corporate suits.
Elizabeth Bowles, president of an internet provider in rural areas of Central Arkansas, was appointed chairman in July after the resignation of her predecessor, another telecom executive who was later arrested on an unrelated fraud charge. A few months into Bowles’s tenure, the group was deadlocked on most major issues. Cities and corporate representatives couldn’t agree on prices for installing 5G beacons on government property such as streetlights. An even bigger point of contention: Companies and the FCC have expressed desire for “shot clocks,” a basketball metaphor that would automatically give carriers permission to install beacons if negotiations with cities aren’t resolved in a timely manner.
“The problem with the debate is everyone is entrenched into their sides,” Bowles said. “Every single member of the committee will have something in those documents that they don’t like. That’s what a compromise is. If AT&T is thrilled with it, then we didn’t do our job.”
Too often, officials say, AT&T got its way. As committee members were returning from New Year’s festivities, they got an email from Douglas Dimitroff, a telecom attorney and chairman of one of the group’s city-focused subcommittees. “We have made substantial changes to the last version,” he wrote in an email obtained by Bloomberg through a public records request. Then he thanked Chris Nurse, a senior executive at AT&T who proposed hundreds of revisions, according to a copy of the draft.
Santosham protested. Sam Cooper, a senior technology adviser to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, wrote: “Shotclocks. Object.” Even a telecom consultant said the revisions were unfair, tilted in favor of wireless companies like AT&T at the expense of cable providers like Comcast Corp. “AT&T has generally driven the bus,” said Angela Stacy, a committee member who’s vice president at a software company for cities called Connected Nation Exchange.
The FCC declined to comment. FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly has accused some officials of trying to “impose their will or extract bounties from providers” and suggested San Jose was seeking “high rents and fees.” AT&T said in an emailed statement that the city-focused working group had unanimously consented to a plan that will be presented to the full committee on Wednesday.
But that group now excludes San Jose and New York. Amid the fracas, Santosham asked San Jose’s mayor to write a letter to the FCC. Together, they attended the committee hearing in late January, and he resigned soon after. A cadre of state officials voiced their opposition to the process in a letter on April 6. “The ideas being generated are overwhelmingly lopsided” and create a “windfall for companies,” wrote John Betkoski, president of NARUC, a national association representing state commissions.
New York withdrew this month and embraced a popular conservative talking point to convey their frustrations: federalism. “It’s really the whole package of trying to preempt local governments from managing public-owned lands,” said Cooper, the adviser to New York’s Democratic mayor. “We couldn’t say in good conscience that these recommendations would be good for cities or localities to adopt.”
Committee work was unglamorous, but Santosham said it could be stimulating. Members would talk on the phone for hours at a time and exchange emails, debating the anodyne decisions that make up much of local telecom regulation. The relationship was usually friendly, Santosham said.
But as corporate interests took over, officials who stuck around could be seen as endorsing the results. Cities can have more sway over technology deployment than many people realize. For instance, they pushed carriers to offer access to fast internet in low-income neighborhoods, said Gerard Lederer, a lobbyist on behalf of cities. “The reason that the vast majority of Americans today have access to high-speed broadband is not because of FCC policies and not because of things at the state level. It’s because of local governments,” he said.
Withdrawing from the process, however, means ceding some of the most influential internet policy work in years. The results will likely serve as something the FCC will “refer to as they make decisions for the next year, five years, ten years,” said Brent Skorup, a member of free-market think-tank The Mercatus Center who sits on the committee.
At Wednesday’s meeting, the committee is expected to discuss proposals for city and state code, including shot clocks. There remain fundamental disagreements, which may take time to reconcile, said Bowles, the chairman. The committee will meet again in July. Bowles dismissed concerns over departures. “I don’t have a whole lot of sympathy with the fact that you’re outnumbered, you should take your ball and go home,” she said.
For San Jose, the march toward 5G continues without the FCC. On Monday, the city struck an agreement with AT&T to install about 200 small-cell devices for 5G on light poles in exchange for $5 million in lease revenue over 15 years. Perhaps the worst part of the whole process, said San Jose Mayor Liccardo, is that most Americans aren’t paying attention: “When you’re talking about complex issues of technology and regulation, it’s often lost on the public just how badly they’re being screwed.”
— With assistance by Todd Shields
“It’s often lost on the public just how badly they’re being screwed”
By
April 25, 2018, 7:01 PM GMT+10
Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Photographer: Zach Gibson
Big business is quietly trouncing cities in the fight over the future of the internet. The results of an obscure, bureaucratic battle inside the U.S. communications regulator could decide not only which Americans get ultra-fast internet but how much it’ll cost and even what city streetlights will look like.
On Wednesday, a committee created by the Federal Communications Commission will meet to frame the future of 5G, a technology that will make downloads dramatically faster on phones and perhaps replace home broadband for some. The group, with representatives of the business world outnumbering government officials four-to-one, may push for a vote on guidelines that have been under debate for more than a year.
It will be the first summit since Shireen Santosham and her boss quit in dismay. The city of San Jose, where Santosham works as chief innovation officer, resigned in late January from the wonky-sounding board, called the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee. New York City later followed. The process came to embody a nationwide effort by telecommunications companies, like AT&T Inc. and Sprint Corp., to establish business-friendly rules for their industry, Santosham and other city officials allege.
The FCC, with guidance from the committee, could make rules that will influence how 5G mobile internet is priced, how quickly it spreads around the country and whether local governments must subsidize the cost. The 5G system is meant to replace today’s mobile wireless technology, making it easier to stream high-definition video anywhere and enable new kinds of apps. The cellular networks will use frequencies that carry a lot of information but don’t travel very far. That means antennas need to be close together and will number in the hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions. They’ll be closer to shops and homes than today’s arrays atop cell towers.
The influence of Big Telecom inside the FCC has already spread into state capitols. More than a dozen states, mostly in Republican strongholds, have passed laws borrowing similar language from the 5G committee. U.S. lawmakers are drafting legislation along similar lines. “This is the biggest movement in broadband that we’ve seen in recent history,” Santosham said.
Santosham, a former McKinsey consultant, has been one of the most vocal agitators against the country’s telecom giants over the past year. Her office led committee work on behalf of San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, a Democrat selected to join a year ago. She served as his official proxy. The initiative was billed as a way to bring cities, states, companies and interest groups together to devise guidelines for updating telecom infrastructure, a move that paves the way for self-driving cars and a world where every device connects to the internet.
An hour before the FCC introduced the group to the public in April 2017, Santosham said she learned San Jose would be the only city represented. Eventually, the agency added officials from Lincoln, Nebraska, and Lenexa, Kansas, but they have always been outnumbered by corporate suits.
Elizabeth Bowles, president of an internet provider in rural areas of Central Arkansas, was appointed chairman in July after the resignation of her predecessor, another telecom executive who was later arrested on an unrelated fraud charge. A few months into Bowles’s tenure, the group was deadlocked on most major issues. Cities and corporate representatives couldn’t agree on prices for installing 5G beacons on government property such as streetlights. An even bigger point of contention: Companies and the FCC have expressed desire for “shot clocks,” a basketball metaphor that would automatically give carriers permission to install beacons if negotiations with cities aren’t resolved in a timely manner.
“The problem with the debate is everyone is entrenched into their sides,” Bowles said. “Every single member of the committee will have something in those documents that they don’t like. That’s what a compromise is. If AT&T is thrilled with it, then we didn’t do our job.”
Too often, officials say, AT&T got its way. As committee members were returning from New Year’s festivities, they got an email from Douglas Dimitroff, a telecom attorney and chairman of one of the group’s city-focused subcommittees. “We have made substantial changes to the last version,” he wrote in an email obtained by Bloomberg through a public records request. Then he thanked Chris Nurse, a senior executive at AT&T who proposed hundreds of revisions, according to a copy of the draft.
Santosham protested. Sam Cooper, a senior technology adviser to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, wrote: “Shotclocks. Object.” Even a telecom consultant said the revisions were unfair, tilted in favor of wireless companies like AT&T at the expense of cable providers like Comcast Corp. “AT&T has generally driven the bus,” said Angela Stacy, a committee member who’s vice president at a software company for cities called Connected Nation Exchange.
The FCC declined to comment. FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly has accused some officials of trying to “impose their will or extract bounties from providers” and suggested San Jose was seeking “high rents and fees.” AT&T said in an emailed statement that the city-focused working group had unanimously consented to a plan that will be presented to the full committee on Wednesday.
But that group now excludes San Jose and New York. Amid the fracas, Santosham asked San Jose’s mayor to write a letter to the FCC. Together, they attended the committee hearing in late January, and he resigned soon after. A cadre of state officials voiced their opposition to the process in a letter on April 6. “The ideas being generated are overwhelmingly lopsided” and create a “windfall for companies,” wrote John Betkoski, president of NARUC, a national association representing state commissions.
New York withdrew this month and embraced a popular conservative talking point to convey their frustrations: federalism. “It’s really the whole package of trying to preempt local governments from managing public-owned lands,” said Cooper, the adviser to New York’s Democratic mayor. “We couldn’t say in good conscience that these recommendations would be good for cities or localities to adopt.”
Committee work was unglamorous, but Santosham said it could be stimulating. Members would talk on the phone for hours at a time and exchange emails, debating the anodyne decisions that make up much of local telecom regulation. The relationship was usually friendly, Santosham said.
But as corporate interests took over, officials who stuck around could be seen as endorsing the results. Cities can have more sway over technology deployment than many people realize. For instance, they pushed carriers to offer access to fast internet in low-income neighborhoods, said Gerard Lederer, a lobbyist on behalf of cities. “The reason that the vast majority of Americans today have access to high-speed broadband is not because of FCC policies and not because of things at the state level. It’s because of local governments,” he said.
Withdrawing from the process, however, means ceding some of the most influential internet policy work in years. The results will likely serve as something the FCC will “refer to as they make decisions for the next year, five years, ten years,” said Brent Skorup, a member of free-market think-tank The Mercatus Center who sits on the committee.
At Wednesday’s meeting, the committee is expected to discuss proposals for city and state code, including shot clocks. There remain fundamental disagreements, which may take time to reconcile, said Bowles, the chairman. The committee will meet again in July. Bowles dismissed concerns over departures. “I don’t have a whole lot of sympathy with the fact that you’re outnumbered, you should take your ball and go home,” she said.
For San Jose, the march toward 5G continues without the FCC. On Monday, the city struck an agreement with AT&T to install about 200 small-cell devices for 5G on light poles in exchange for $5 million in lease revenue over 15 years. Perhaps the worst part of the whole process, said San Jose Mayor Liccardo, is that most Americans aren’t paying attention: “When you’re talking about complex issues of technology and regulation, it’s often lost on the public just how badly they’re being screwed.”
— With assistance by Todd Shields
WhatsApp to raise minimum age limit to 16 in EU - BBC News
April 25, 2018
WhatsApp to raise minimum age limit to 16 in EU
Popular messaging service WhatsApp is banning under-16s from using its platform in the European Union.
Users must currently be at least 13, but the firm is changing the rules ahead of the introduction of new EU data privacy regulations in May.
The app, which is owned by Facebook, will ask users to confirm their age when prompted to agree new terms of service in the next few weeks.
It has not said how the age limit will be enforced.
At present, WhatsApp does not ask users their age when they join, nor does it cross-reference their Facebook or Instagram accounts to find out.
About a third of all UK-based 12- to 15-year-olds active on social media use WhatsApp, according to a 2017 report by the media regulator Ofcom.
That made it the fifth most popular social network with the age group after Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube.
Data privacy
The EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force on 25 May, will give people much more control over how companies use their information.
They will also have the right to have personal data erased.
It also includes specific rules to protect children from having their personal data collected for marketing purposes, or to create user profiles.
Under-age social media use 'on the rise'
Reality Check: Who controls your data?
Facebook cuts off billions from privacy law
Are you ready for a data privacy shake-up?
WhatsApp, which has faced scrutiny for its data sharing practices in the past, said its move would help it meet the "new high standards of transparency" in the EU.
However, the app plans to keep its age limit at 13 in the rest of the world.
Skip Twitter post by @bellabo
Gavin Blair
@bellabo
@rachelburden casually mentioned that WhatsApp are changing their their T&C and under 16's being banned from the platform to my teenage daughter. Massive sobs and snot bubbles for the last 1/2hr
4:12 PM - Apr 25, 2018
Helen Buchanan
@HellyB1972
Very pleased today to hear WhatsApp is raising the age of use from 13 to 16. At last someone is doing something to protect teenage minds & self esteem. Come on Facebook get your act together#WhatsApp #Facebook
5:43 PM - Apr 25, 2018
JulietB3
@julietb3
Replying to @ckkrisshnakumar and 5 others
All very valid points but my 13 year old daughter is part of a form WhatsApp group where they check in with how they are feeling and also what lessons they have, homework that's due, they help each other with homework. So increasing the age limit would be detrimental for her.
5:27 PM - Apr 25, 2018
Most social media apps - including Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Musical.ly and Reddit - are restricted to those aged 13 and over.
This is in part because a US law - the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (Coppa) - bans online services from collecting personal information about younger children.
Facebook did, however, launch Messenger Kids, which is targeted at children as young as six, last December. It is an ad-free service designed to be compliant with Coppa.
Different approach
WhatsApp will also be allowing all users to download a report detailing the data it holds on them as part of its new terms of service.
That could include the make and model of the device they use, their contacts and groups and any blocked numbers.
Facebook, which has also been criticised for its handling of personal data, is taking a different approach to younger users on its main service.
To comply with GDPR, the social network is asking those aged 13 to 15 to nominate a parent or guardian to give permission for them to share information on the platform.
If they do not, they will not see a fully personalised version of the platform.
In a related development, Facebook's Instagram service has also launched a "data download" tool that provides a file containing the photos, comments, archived Stories, contacts and other personal data a user had posted to the service in the past.
WhatsApp to raise minimum age limit to 16 in EU
Popular messaging service WhatsApp is banning under-16s from using its platform in the European Union.
Users must currently be at least 13, but the firm is changing the rules ahead of the introduction of new EU data privacy regulations in May.
The app, which is owned by Facebook, will ask users to confirm their age when prompted to agree new terms of service in the next few weeks.
It has not said how the age limit will be enforced.
At present, WhatsApp does not ask users their age when they join, nor does it cross-reference their Facebook or Instagram accounts to find out.
About a third of all UK-based 12- to 15-year-olds active on social media use WhatsApp, according to a 2017 report by the media regulator Ofcom.
That made it the fifth most popular social network with the age group after Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube.
Data privacy
The EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which comes into force on 25 May, will give people much more control over how companies use their information.
They will also have the right to have personal data erased.
It also includes specific rules to protect children from having their personal data collected for marketing purposes, or to create user profiles.
Under-age social media use 'on the rise'
Reality Check: Who controls your data?
Facebook cuts off billions from privacy law
Are you ready for a data privacy shake-up?
WhatsApp, which has faced scrutiny for its data sharing practices in the past, said its move would help it meet the "new high standards of transparency" in the EU.
However, the app plans to keep its age limit at 13 in the rest of the world.
Skip Twitter post by @bellabo
Gavin Blair
@bellabo
@rachelburden casually mentioned that WhatsApp are changing their their T&C and under 16's being banned from the platform to my teenage daughter. Massive sobs and snot bubbles for the last 1/2hr
4:12 PM - Apr 25, 2018
Helen Buchanan
@HellyB1972
Very pleased today to hear WhatsApp is raising the age of use from 13 to 16. At last someone is doing something to protect teenage minds & self esteem. Come on Facebook get your act together#WhatsApp #Facebook
5:43 PM - Apr 25, 2018
JulietB3
@julietb3
Replying to @ckkrisshnakumar and 5 others
All very valid points but my 13 year old daughter is part of a form WhatsApp group where they check in with how they are feeling and also what lessons they have, homework that's due, they help each other with homework. So increasing the age limit would be detrimental for her.
5:27 PM - Apr 25, 2018
Most social media apps - including Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Musical.ly and Reddit - are restricted to those aged 13 and over.
This is in part because a US law - the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (Coppa) - bans online services from collecting personal information about younger children.
Facebook did, however, launch Messenger Kids, which is targeted at children as young as six, last December. It is an ad-free service designed to be compliant with Coppa.
Different approach
WhatsApp will also be allowing all users to download a report detailing the data it holds on them as part of its new terms of service.
That could include the make and model of the device they use, their contacts and groups and any blocked numbers.
Facebook, which has also been criticised for its handling of personal data, is taking a different approach to younger users on its main service.
To comply with GDPR, the social network is asking those aged 13 to 15 to nominate a parent or guardian to give permission for them to share information on the platform.
If they do not, they will not see a fully personalised version of the platform.
In a related development, Facebook's Instagram service has also launched a "data download" tool that provides a file containing the photos, comments, archived Stories, contacts and other personal data a user had posted to the service in the past.
Toronto van attack: Alek Minassian praised 'incel' killer - BBC News
April 25, 2018
Toronto van attack: Alek Minassian praised 'incel' killer
"I have a gun in my pocket" – the moment Alek Minassian was arrested.
A van driver accused of killing 10 people in Toronto posted to Facebook minutes before the attack to praise killer Elliot Rodger and refer to the misogynistic "incel" Reddit group.
Alek Minassian, 25, was charged on Tuesday with 10 counts of murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.
Police say he appeared to intentionally strike pedestrians after mounting a busy pavement in a rental van.
He was arrested several blocks away after a tense standoff with police.
Mr Minassian's Facebook post, which the social network has confirmed as real, praised Elliott Rodger, a 22 year old from California who killed six people in a shooting rampage through Isla Vista, California in 2014 before turning the gun on himself.
It read: "The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys! All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!"
The term "incel" refers to a now-banned group on the message site Reddit, used by Rodger, where young men discussed their lack of sexual activity and attractiveness to women - often blaming women for the problem.
"Chads and Stacys" refers to attractive men and women who are perceived as better than or unavailable to "incels", which is short for "involuntary celibate".
Toronto van attack: What's an incel?
Toronto Police Detective Sergeant Graham Gibson said at a press conference on Tuesday that the 10 dead and 14 wounded were "predominantly" women.
He said the youngest were in their twenties and the eldest in their eighties.
Authorities have not yet formally identified any of the victims.
Mr Minassian appeared in court on Tuesday to hear the charges against him. He sported a shaved head and white jumpsuit and held his hands behind his back, showing little emotion throughout.
He was ordered to have no contact with surviving victims and to return to court on 10 May.
A man believed to be a relative of Mr Minassian's sat in the front row of the court and wept. Asked by reporters after the hearing if he had anything to say, the man replied "sorry".
Tom Llamas
✔
@TomLlamasABC
This man, believed to be Minassian's relative, was escorted out by court officials and was crying in the front row during the hearing. He said "sorry" when asked if he had anything to say to the people of Canada and softly said "no"when asked if there were warning signs. @ABC
12:25 AM - Apr 25, 2018
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the incident a "senseless attack and a horrific tragedy".
Yonge Street, where the attack took place, remained closed on Tuesday as police continued their investigation.
A line of officers standing shoulder-to-shoulder walked slowly down the street combing it for remaining evidence.
What else do we know about the suspect?
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) confirmed that Mr Minassian was a member for two months in late 2017. He requested to be voluntarily released.
Mr Minassian had previously attended a school for students with special needs in north Toronto, former classmates said.
He would be seen walking around Thornlea Secondary School with his head down and hands clasped tightly together making meowing noises, Shereen Chami told Reuters.
But she said Mr Minassian had not been violent. "He wasn't a social person, but from what I remember he was absolutely harmless," she told Reuters.
Mr Minassian went on to attend Seneca College in the North York area of Toronto, where the van incident took place, CBC reported.
What we know about Alek Minassian
Police say Mr Minassian is from the northern Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill and was not previously known to authorities.
Public safety minister Ralph Goodale said there "would appear to be no national security connections" and Canadian broadcaster CBC cited government officials as saying Mr Minassian was not associated with any known terror groups.
Who were the victims?
Anne Marie D'Amico was "full of life", her colleague said
So far three victims have been named in the media and through other channels.
Anne-Marie D'Amico worked for the US investment company, Invesco, CBC reports. The company's Canadian headquarters are on Yonge Street.
Toronto van attack victim 'full of life'
The Jordanian embassy in Ottawa has told the BBC that one of its citizens was among the victims. Jordanian media named him as Munir Abdo Habib al-Najjar, who they said was in Canada to visit one of his sons.
Toronto resident Dorothy Sewell, 80, has also been named by relatives as one of the victims.
Dorothy Sewell was a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team
Her grandson, Elwood Delaney, said she was the "best grandma anyone could have asked for".
The South Korean embassy in Canada confirmed to the BBC that two of its citizens were among the dead and another was critically ill. Their names have not been disclosed.
The 15 injured remain in hospitals throughout Toronto.
How did the incident unfold?
Police said the suspect in the van mounted the kerb on Yonge Street between Finch Avenue and Sheppard Avenue at about 13:30 local time (17:30 GMT) on Monday and drove into pedestrians along a 1km (0.6-mile) stretch.
Reza Hashemi, who owns a video shop on Yonge Street, told the BBC he heard screaming on the other side of the road. He said the van was repeatedly mounting the pavement and running into people.
'It was awful': What eyewitnesses saw
One witness told City News that the driver was "hitting anything that comes in the way".
"People, fire hydrants, there's mail boxes being run over," said the unnamed man, who said he was driving behind the van during the incident.
As the van continued, the man said he sounded his horn to try to warn pedestrians. "I witnessed at least six, seven people being hit and flying in the air, like killed, on the street," he said.
Pictures from the scene showed bodies covered in orange sheets along the van's route. Debris and items of clothing were scattered across the pavements and road.
The suspect confronted a police officer and claimed to have a gun
The van was brought to a halt by police several streets away and was quickly surrounded.
The suspect pointed an object at the officer and claimed to have a gun.
Calm actions of Toronto police stun US
"I don't care. Get down," the officer said, before arresting Mr Minassian without firing a shot. The arrest was filmed by two bystanders and the officer was praised for not opening fire.
A makeshift memorial has sprung up at the junction of Yonge Street and Finch Avenue and a wall is being filled with messages of condolences, grief and support.
One of those who came to lay a flower, Dave Spence, said residents would "walk a little differently" when they came through the area "for years to come".
Toronto van attack: Alek Minassian praised 'incel' killer
"I have a gun in my pocket" – the moment Alek Minassian was arrested.
A van driver accused of killing 10 people in Toronto posted to Facebook minutes before the attack to praise killer Elliot Rodger and refer to the misogynistic "incel" Reddit group.
Alek Minassian, 25, was charged on Tuesday with 10 counts of murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.
Police say he appeared to intentionally strike pedestrians after mounting a busy pavement in a rental van.
He was arrested several blocks away after a tense standoff with police.
Mr Minassian's Facebook post, which the social network has confirmed as real, praised Elliott Rodger, a 22 year old from California who killed six people in a shooting rampage through Isla Vista, California in 2014 before turning the gun on himself.
It read: "The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys! All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!"
The term "incel" refers to a now-banned group on the message site Reddit, used by Rodger, where young men discussed their lack of sexual activity and attractiveness to women - often blaming women for the problem.
"Chads and Stacys" refers to attractive men and women who are perceived as better than or unavailable to "incels", which is short for "involuntary celibate".
Toronto van attack: What's an incel?
Toronto Police Detective Sergeant Graham Gibson said at a press conference on Tuesday that the 10 dead and 14 wounded were "predominantly" women.
He said the youngest were in their twenties and the eldest in their eighties.
Authorities have not yet formally identified any of the victims.
Mr Minassian appeared in court on Tuesday to hear the charges against him. He sported a shaved head and white jumpsuit and held his hands behind his back, showing little emotion throughout.
He was ordered to have no contact with surviving victims and to return to court on 10 May.
A man believed to be a relative of Mr Minassian's sat in the front row of the court and wept. Asked by reporters after the hearing if he had anything to say, the man replied "sorry".
Tom Llamas
✔
@TomLlamasABC
This man, believed to be Minassian's relative, was escorted out by court officials and was crying in the front row during the hearing. He said "sorry" when asked if he had anything to say to the people of Canada and softly said "no"when asked if there were warning signs. @ABC
12:25 AM - Apr 25, 2018
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the incident a "senseless attack and a horrific tragedy".
Yonge Street, where the attack took place, remained closed on Tuesday as police continued their investigation.
A line of officers standing shoulder-to-shoulder walked slowly down the street combing it for remaining evidence.
What else do we know about the suspect?
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) confirmed that Mr Minassian was a member for two months in late 2017. He requested to be voluntarily released.
Mr Minassian had previously attended a school for students with special needs in north Toronto, former classmates said.
He would be seen walking around Thornlea Secondary School with his head down and hands clasped tightly together making meowing noises, Shereen Chami told Reuters.
But she said Mr Minassian had not been violent. "He wasn't a social person, but from what I remember he was absolutely harmless," she told Reuters.
Mr Minassian went on to attend Seneca College in the North York area of Toronto, where the van incident took place, CBC reported.
What we know about Alek Minassian
Police say Mr Minassian is from the northern Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill and was not previously known to authorities.
Public safety minister Ralph Goodale said there "would appear to be no national security connections" and Canadian broadcaster CBC cited government officials as saying Mr Minassian was not associated with any known terror groups.
Who were the victims?
Anne Marie D'Amico was "full of life", her colleague said
So far three victims have been named in the media and through other channels.
Anne-Marie D'Amico worked for the US investment company, Invesco, CBC reports. The company's Canadian headquarters are on Yonge Street.
Toronto van attack victim 'full of life'
The Jordanian embassy in Ottawa has told the BBC that one of its citizens was among the victims. Jordanian media named him as Munir Abdo Habib al-Najjar, who they said was in Canada to visit one of his sons.
Toronto resident Dorothy Sewell, 80, has also been named by relatives as one of the victims.
Dorothy Sewell was a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team
Her grandson, Elwood Delaney, said she was the "best grandma anyone could have asked for".
The South Korean embassy in Canada confirmed to the BBC that two of its citizens were among the dead and another was critically ill. Their names have not been disclosed.
The 15 injured remain in hospitals throughout Toronto.
How did the incident unfold?
Police said the suspect in the van mounted the kerb on Yonge Street between Finch Avenue and Sheppard Avenue at about 13:30 local time (17:30 GMT) on Monday and drove into pedestrians along a 1km (0.6-mile) stretch.
Reza Hashemi, who owns a video shop on Yonge Street, told the BBC he heard screaming on the other side of the road. He said the van was repeatedly mounting the pavement and running into people.
'It was awful': What eyewitnesses saw
One witness told City News that the driver was "hitting anything that comes in the way".
"People, fire hydrants, there's mail boxes being run over," said the unnamed man, who said he was driving behind the van during the incident.
As the van continued, the man said he sounded his horn to try to warn pedestrians. "I witnessed at least six, seven people being hit and flying in the air, like killed, on the street," he said.
Pictures from the scene showed bodies covered in orange sheets along the van's route. Debris and items of clothing were scattered across the pavements and road.
The suspect confronted a police officer and claimed to have a gun
The van was brought to a halt by police several streets away and was quickly surrounded.
The suspect pointed an object at the officer and claimed to have a gun.
Calm actions of Toronto police stun US
"I don't care. Get down," the officer said, before arresting Mr Minassian without firing a shot. The arrest was filmed by two bystanders and the officer was praised for not opening fire.
A makeshift memorial has sprung up at the junction of Yonge Street and Finch Avenue and a wall is being filled with messages of condolences, grief and support.
One of those who came to lay a flower, Dave Spence, said residents would "walk a little differently" when they came through the area "for years to come".
Trump and Macron hint at new Iran nuclear deal - BBC News
April 25. 2018
Trump and Macron hint at new Iran nuclear deal
Trump and Macron's touching moments
US President Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron have suggested
there could be a new agreement on Iran's nuclear programme.
After talks in the US, Mr Trump, who is sceptical of an accord that was struck in 2015, spoke about "doing a much bigger, maybe, deal".
Mr Macron said a new pact must cover Iran's ballistic missile programme and its role in the Middle East.
Iran warned of "severe consequences" if the US withdraws from the deal.
In 2015, Iran agreed to mothball its nuclear programme in return for an easing of economic sanctions on Iran.
The US president has been threatening to reject an extension of the Obama-era nuclear pact reached between Tehran and world powers by a 12 May deadline.
Mr Macron had been lobbying Mr Trump to stick with the deal, saying there was no better option.
What is the Iran nuclear deal?
Could the Iran nuclear deal collapse?
Oil at $75 as Iran sanction fears mount
Trump-Macron bromance in the making?
Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to visit the US on Friday to make a last-minute bid to dissuade Mr Trump from potentially torpedoing the agreement.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was quoted as saying that Tehran would "most likely" abandon the accord if the US pulled out.
What did Trump and Macron say in Washington?
"I think we will have a great shot at doing a much bigger, maybe, deal," the US president said, adding that any new agreement must be built on "solid foundations".
"They should have made a deal that covered Yemen, that covered Syria, that covered other parts of the Middle East," said Mr Trump, referring to the 2015 accord which he described as "insane".
Media captionWhat French people think about Trump and Macron meeting
Meanwhile, Mr Macron agreed that Tehran's influence in the region must be part of negotiations.
He also stressed that - as well as controlling Iran's nuclear programme for the next decade as envisaged by the current agreement - a fresh deal would need to cover its nuclear activities longer-term, as well as its ballistic missile programme.
And he talked about working with President Trump to build a "new framework" in the Middle East - and especially in Syria.
Mr Macron said he did not know whether Mr Trump would extend the 12 May deadline, adding: "I can say that we have had very frank discussions on that, just the two of us."
Mr Trump earlier warned Iran against resuming its nuclear programme.
"They're not going to be restarting anything. They restart it they're going to have big problems, bigger than they've ever had before."
'Bigger, better' deal
Analysis by the BBC's Barbara Plett Usher
The visit was a strange mix.
On the one hand, a display of stark differences - Mr Macron almost channelling an anti-Trump in his opening admonition to resist "aggressive nationalism" and "build a new multilateralism."
On the other hand, an overt display of deliberate chumminess punctuated with tussling handshakes and capped by the very odd dandruff episode, where Mr Trump seemed to hover between playfulness and aggression.
But whether or not the French president felt humiliated by the bout of unexpected grooming, he did manage to get Mr Trump's attention on the Iran nuclear accord.
He framed his appeal to preserve the deal with the promise of a "bigger, better" one.
In other words, build on the existing agreement to address its flaws, rather than scrap it and start fresh.
Whether or not this is possible is an open question.
But the suggestion was enough to intrigue Mr Trump.
His tone changed, moving from a blistering harangue of the deal before the meeting to something more considered - although still noncommittal - afterwards.
And that shows the influence of personal engagement with the president, from someone who - like Mr Macron - knows how to talk to him.
What was Iran's response?
On Monday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani threatened "severe consequences" if the US withdrew from the deal.
Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif: "You cannot stop the process or not engage just because of a fear of failure"
Meanwhile, Mr Zarif said just hours before the Trump-Macron summit that a probable response would be to restart the enrichment of uranium - a key bomb-making ingredient.
"You cannot stop the process or not engage just because of a fear of failure. But at least you need to have some hope of success, some prospect for success, in order for this process to start," the Iranian foreign minister was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"And I do not believe that, under the present circumstances, with the present tone, and language and approach of the current administration in Washington, you would have much prospect."
Iran maintains its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful civilian purposes.
What are Trump's objections to the 2015 accord?
The US president has long complained that the accord - signed by the US, Iran, Europe, Russia, China and Germany - does nothing to halt Iran's support for militant groups in the region such as Hezbollah.
Mr Trump is also demanding that signatories to the pact agree permanent restrictions on Iran's uranium enrichment.
Iran nuclear deal: Key details
Under the current deal they are set to expire in 2025.
What about other issues discussed in Washington?
Mr Macron, on a three-day visit to the US, is the first foreign leader to be treated to a state visit during the Trump presidency.
The White House State Dinner is the first of Donald Trump's presidency
President Macron and his wife, Brigitte, attended a state dinner in their honour at the White House on Tuesday.
Guests included former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Apple chief executive Tim Cook.
"May our friendship grow even deeper, may our kinship grow even stronger, and may our sacred liberty never die," Mr Trump said in his toast.
In response, Mr Macron spoke of "how deep, how strong, and how intense the relationship is between our two countries".
"I got to know you, you got to know me. We both know that none of us easily changes our minds, but we will work together, and we have this ability to listen to one another," he said.
President Trump rolled out the red carpet for the French leader
The Iran deal is not the only potential source of discord between the two leaders.
Also on the agenda is the Paris climate accord, the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and planned US tariffs on EU steel and aluminium.
Mr Trump thanked France for joining the US and Britain earlier this month in launching air strikes after an alleged chemical attack in Syria.
Trump and Macron hint at new Iran nuclear deal
Trump and Macron's touching moments
US President Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron have suggested
there could be a new agreement on Iran's nuclear programme.
After talks in the US, Mr Trump, who is sceptical of an accord that was struck in 2015, spoke about "doing a much bigger, maybe, deal".
Mr Macron said a new pact must cover Iran's ballistic missile programme and its role in the Middle East.
Iran warned of "severe consequences" if the US withdraws from the deal.
In 2015, Iran agreed to mothball its nuclear programme in return for an easing of economic sanctions on Iran.
The US president has been threatening to reject an extension of the Obama-era nuclear pact reached between Tehran and world powers by a 12 May deadline.
Mr Macron had been lobbying Mr Trump to stick with the deal, saying there was no better option.
What is the Iran nuclear deal?
Could the Iran nuclear deal collapse?
Oil at $75 as Iran sanction fears mount
Trump-Macron bromance in the making?
Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to visit the US on Friday to make a last-minute bid to dissuade Mr Trump from potentially torpedoing the agreement.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was quoted as saying that Tehran would "most likely" abandon the accord if the US pulled out.
What did Trump and Macron say in Washington?
"I think we will have a great shot at doing a much bigger, maybe, deal," the US president said, adding that any new agreement must be built on "solid foundations".
"They should have made a deal that covered Yemen, that covered Syria, that covered other parts of the Middle East," said Mr Trump, referring to the 2015 accord which he described as "insane".
Media captionWhat French people think about Trump and Macron meeting
Meanwhile, Mr Macron agreed that Tehran's influence in the region must be part of negotiations.
He also stressed that - as well as controlling Iran's nuclear programme for the next decade as envisaged by the current agreement - a fresh deal would need to cover its nuclear activities longer-term, as well as its ballistic missile programme.
And he talked about working with President Trump to build a "new framework" in the Middle East - and especially in Syria.
Mr Macron said he did not know whether Mr Trump would extend the 12 May deadline, adding: "I can say that we have had very frank discussions on that, just the two of us."
Mr Trump earlier warned Iran against resuming its nuclear programme.
"They're not going to be restarting anything. They restart it they're going to have big problems, bigger than they've ever had before."
'Bigger, better' deal
Analysis by the BBC's Barbara Plett Usher
The visit was a strange mix.
On the one hand, a display of stark differences - Mr Macron almost channelling an anti-Trump in his opening admonition to resist "aggressive nationalism" and "build a new multilateralism."
On the other hand, an overt display of deliberate chumminess punctuated with tussling handshakes and capped by the very odd dandruff episode, where Mr Trump seemed to hover between playfulness and aggression.
But whether or not the French president felt humiliated by the bout of unexpected grooming, he did manage to get Mr Trump's attention on the Iran nuclear accord.
He framed his appeal to preserve the deal with the promise of a "bigger, better" one.
In other words, build on the existing agreement to address its flaws, rather than scrap it and start fresh.
Whether or not this is possible is an open question.
But the suggestion was enough to intrigue Mr Trump.
His tone changed, moving from a blistering harangue of the deal before the meeting to something more considered - although still noncommittal - afterwards.
And that shows the influence of personal engagement with the president, from someone who - like Mr Macron - knows how to talk to him.
What was Iran's response?
On Monday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani threatened "severe consequences" if the US withdrew from the deal.
Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif: "You cannot stop the process or not engage just because of a fear of failure"
Meanwhile, Mr Zarif said just hours before the Trump-Macron summit that a probable response would be to restart the enrichment of uranium - a key bomb-making ingredient.
"You cannot stop the process or not engage just because of a fear of failure. But at least you need to have some hope of success, some prospect for success, in order for this process to start," the Iranian foreign minister was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"And I do not believe that, under the present circumstances, with the present tone, and language and approach of the current administration in Washington, you would have much prospect."
Iran maintains its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful civilian purposes.
What are Trump's objections to the 2015 accord?
The US president has long complained that the accord - signed by the US, Iran, Europe, Russia, China and Germany - does nothing to halt Iran's support for militant groups in the region such as Hezbollah.
Mr Trump is also demanding that signatories to the pact agree permanent restrictions on Iran's uranium enrichment.
Iran nuclear deal: Key details
Under the current deal they are set to expire in 2025.
What about other issues discussed in Washington?
Mr Macron, on a three-day visit to the US, is the first foreign leader to be treated to a state visit during the Trump presidency.
The White House State Dinner is the first of Donald Trump's presidency
President Macron and his wife, Brigitte, attended a state dinner in their honour at the White House on Tuesday.
Guests included former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Apple chief executive Tim Cook.
"May our friendship grow even deeper, may our kinship grow even stronger, and may our sacred liberty never die," Mr Trump said in his toast.
In response, Mr Macron spoke of "how deep, how strong, and how intense the relationship is between our two countries".
"I got to know you, you got to know me. We both know that none of us easily changes our minds, but we will work together, and we have this ability to listen to one another," he said.
President Trump rolled out the red carpet for the French leader
The Iran deal is not the only potential source of discord between the two leaders.
Also on the agenda is the Paris climate accord, the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and planned US tariffs on EU steel and aluminium.
Mr Trump thanked France for joining the US and Britain earlier this month in launching air strikes after an alleged chemical attack in Syria.
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