India's NSE index ends higher after bumpy budget-day trading

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Indian shares rode a roller-coaster on Saturday, when the budget for the coming fiscal year was present, and they ended the day higher, on hopes the plan will boost growth and corporate taxes will be cut.

The broader NSE index <.NSEI> ended up 0.65 percent at 8,901.85 points. At one point while Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was speaking, the index was up 1.1 percent, and later it was down as much as 1 percent.

The NSE index rose 0.8 percent in a week marked by budget anticipation, while gaining 1.05 percent in February, its second consecutive monthly gain.

The benchmark BSE index <.BSESN> rose 0.48 percent to 29,361.50 on Saturday. It was up 0.44 percent for the week and 0.61 percent for the month.

Saturday’s volatile trading reflected investors’ views on parts of Jaitley’s remarks.

Indexes rose early during the speech, after the minister painted a bright picture of India’s prospects. They fell when he said pace of cutting the country’s fiscal deficit would be slowed. Now, the deficit will shrink to 3 percent of gross domestic product in 2017/18, one year later than expected.

Share-prices climbed again on news he plans to cut the corporate tax to 25 percent from 30 percent, over four years, and that there would be a delay in tax-avoidance rules for foreign investors by two years.

SHORT ON REFORM

The budget was short on structural reforms, with the government leaving major welfare schemes untouched and only cutting fuel subsidies thanks to collapsed international oil prices.

“It is not close to the ‘visionary document’ that people have been talking about,” said Nitin Jain, CEO of retail capital markets and global asset management for Edelweiss in Mumbai.

“Though it is a fairly well balance budget, the market expectations were really sky rocketing before this day.”

The government’s measures on GAAR benefited blue chips, which are heavily owned by foreign institutional investors.

Overseas funds have bought a net $3.87 billion in shares so far this year after $16.11 billion in net purchases last year.

Blue chips lead the gainers. Axis Bank rose 8 percent while Tata Motors gained 3.2 percent.

However, among decliners index heavyweight ITC slumped 8.2 percent after the budget raised excise duty on cigarettes by 15 to 25 percent.

(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi; Editing by Rafael Nam and Richard Borsuk)

India's NSE index ends higher after bumpy budget-day trading

IOC member, once critical of Rio, now sees 'great progress'

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The IOC vice president who called Rio de Janeiro’s preparations for the 2016 Olympics the “worst” in memory, says almost a year later that much has changed.

John Coates, in Rio for meetings of the International Olympic Committee executive board, said on Thursday he’s feeling content about South America’s first Olympics.

“A lot of great progress has been made,” Coates said. “That’s quite clear. I’m a lot more relaxed.”

The Australian gave some of the credit to Gilbert Felli, the former executive director of the Olympics, who has been in Rio as a troubleshooter, helping to coordinate with local organizing committee officials.

Coates said he visited Deodoro, the second largest cluster of venues, in a rundown area of northern Rio.

“The particular concern we had was Deodoro, where work hadn’t started,” he said. “There’s good progress out there now.”

Asked for the most important reason for the progress, Coates replied: “Maybe the money is starting to flow through. I imagine that was always an issue.”

It still might be.

Brazil is teetering on recession; the value of the local currency has cropped 35 percent against the dollar in recent months, and the government of President Dilma Rousseff has raised taxes and cut some services to make up for any budget shortfall.

Rio is spending about $14 billion on the Olympics, after the country spent $12 billion on last year’s World Cup.

However, few question any longer if venues will be ready, although several are behind schedule: The golf course, an equestrian venue, and the velodrome.

There are also concerns over severe water pollution in the sailing venue, a shortage of hotel rooms, and street crime.

It’s also unclear if all 44 test events will be held, or be on time.

___

Stephen Wade on Twitter: https://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP

IOC member, once critical of Rio, now sees 'great progress'

Report: Surge in Chinese investment raises fraud risks

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chinese investors seeking green cards to live in America run the risk of being defrauded under a loosely regulated visa program, according to a report Thursday from a federal watchdog.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission raises questions about America’s EB-5 visa program, which grants green cards to foreigners in return for investments of $1 million — or just $500,000 in high-unemployment or rural areas. Local government officials are supposed to vet the investors and their projects before visa applications are approved.

“The program has been flooded by Chinese applicants,” the report found. “Instances of fraud and lax regulation have cast doubt on the ability of local authorities to screen Chinese EB-5 investors properly.”

The commission cites the case of a real estate developer indicted last year on charges of duping 290 Chinese investors into sinking money into a fraudulent $912 million hotel complex outside Chicago. In South Dakota, a state official committed suicide in 2013 after coming under investigation for mismanaging Chinese and South Korean EB-5 investment funds connected to a failed beef-packing plant.

Started 24 years ago, the EB-5 has only recently begun to attract intense interest in China, where investors and business owners are worried about a cooling economy and a crackdown on corruption. Many are also eager to take advantage of a strengthening U.S. economic recovery.

EB-5 investors are issued conditional green cards valid for two years. To gain permanent residency, they must submit proof before the green card expires that they have established a “commercial enterprise,” invested the required amount of money and created jobs.

Many foreign investors seek help from 617 Immigrant Investor Regional Centers nationwide to identify projects that qualify for the visa program. The investors are often under the mistaken impression that the centers are sponsored by the government. In fact, although they need government approval to get the “regional center” designation, they are private, for-profit operations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have jointly said they have no “view on the quality” of the investments the centers are promoting.

The commission report notes that local governments have “an incentive not to screen Chinese EB-5 investors too rigorously. They can fill an important gap by investing in impoverished areas that domestic investors avoid.”

But the rules governing the visa program are so loose that even prosperous communities can be counted as areas of high unemployment, letting investors get a green card for investing $500,000 instead of $1 million.

“I’ve qualified things that are in the middle of Beverly Hills,” Abigail Browning, who works on the EB-5 program for the California government, told commission researchers. “You’d think that wouldn’t be a high unemployment area.”

The United States issues 10,000 EB-5 visas annually. Each country is entitled to 7 percent, or 700; but the State Department has let China override the limits because other countries weren’t using all their slots. Chinese citizens got 6,985 EB-5 visas in 2013, up from less than 2,500 in 2011. But last August, with China’s share accounting for 85 percent of 2014 EB-5 visas, the State Department announced for the first time that the program would be closed to Chinese applicants until fiscal year 2015, which started in October.

The report was written by commission researchers Iacob Koch-Weser and Garland Ditz. They call for the EB-5 system to be scaled back or for the approval process to be improved.

The commission, created by Congress in 2000 to monitor the national security implications of the U.S.-China economic relationship, is publishing the report “to promote greater public understanding” but does not necessarily endorse its findings.

Chinese direct investment in the United States has risen from virtually nothing before 2010 to more than $10 billion in each of the last two years, according to the Rhodium Group consultancy.

Report: Surge in Chinese investment raises fraud risks
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/report-surge-chinese-investment-raises-fraud-risks-140220179.html
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rss/usa-politics
USA News Headlines – Yahoo News UK
The latest USA news headlines from Yahoo News UK. Find videos, pictures and in-depth USA coverage
https://s.yimg.com/rz/d/yahoo_news_en-GB_s_f_p_bestfit_news.png

Report: Surge in Chinese investment raises fraud risks

AP PHOTOS: Germany Young Ensemble

BERLIN (AP) — Hoping to demonstrate their posture, agility and strength, a handful of boys and more than 120 girls between ages 7 and 9 tried out for the Young Ensemble of Berlin’s Friedrichstadt-Palast theatre in February.

Hundreds of children apply every year for only 20-30 spots in the theater’s renowned Young Ensemble.

Overall, some 250 children, ages 7 through 16, attend the school at any one time.

The ensemble provides year-round theatre training for children. All children receive two years of basic training in classic dance, drama and jazz, after which they may — depending on their talents — specialize in solo acting, singing, solo singing, acrobatics, hip hop or street dance.

___

Here is a gallery of images from Germany Young Ensemble.

AP PHOTOS: Germany Young Ensemble

Sky News shows student picture of 'Jihadi John' in baseball cap

LONDON (Reuters) – British television broadcast the first picture of Mohammed Emwazi as a student on Friday, showing the man identified as the Islamic State “Jihadi John” killer with a moustache and goatee beard wearing a large baseball cap.

Sky News broadcast a photograph of the 26-year-old wearing a black cap with a logo that resembled the P from the Pittsburgh Pirates U.S. Major League Baseball team, which it said was stored by the University of Westminster where he studied.

British media had previously only published a picture of Kuwaiti-born Emwazi as a smiling schoolboy.

Two U.S. government sources have told Reuters that Emwazi is Jihadi John, the black-clad militant seen brandishing a knife and speaking with an English accent in videos released by Islamic State (IS).

He appeared on the short videos in which hostages including Americans, Britons and Syrians were decapitated.

The document obtained by Sky News also showed that Emwazi had completed a degree in Information Systems with Business Management.

A spokeswoman for the University of Westminster said it was investigating how the information had been obtained and declined further comment.

(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Paul Taylor)

Source Article from https://uk.news.yahoo.com/sky-news-shows-student-picture-jihadi-john-baseball-171107979–mlb.html

Sky News shows student picture of 'Jihadi John' in baseball cap

Reaction to death of 'Star Trek' actor Leonard Nimoy

(Reuters) – Leonard Nimoy, best known for his portrayal of logic-bound Mr. Spock in the “Star Trek” science fiction television series and movies, died on Friday at age 83 after a battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The following are reactions to Nimoy’s death:

“Long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy. Leonard was a lifelong lover of the arts and humanities, a supporter of the sciences, generous with his talent and his time. And of course, Leonard was Spock. Cool, logical, big-eared and level-headed, the centre of Star Trek’s optimistic, inclusive vision of humanity’s future. I loved Spock,” President Barack Obama, whose unemotional approach to problems has been likened to the character Nimoy portrayed on “Star Trek.”

“I loved him like a brother. We will all miss his humour, his talent and his capacity to love,” William Shatner, who co-starred on “Star Trek” as Captain Kirk, said in a statement.

“Today, the world lost a great man, and I lost a great friend. We return you now to the stars, Leonard. You taught us to ‘Live Long and Prosper,’ and you indeed did, friend. I shall miss you in so many, many ways,” “Star Trek” fellow cast member George Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu, wrote on Facebook.

“My heart is broken. I love you profoundly my dear friend. And I will miss you everyday. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest,” actor Zachary Quinto, who portrays Spock in the current “Star Trek” film series, said on website Instagram.

“He was a true force of strength and his character was that of a champion,” “Star Trek” cast member Nichelle Nichols, who played Lieutenant Uhura, said in a statement. “Leonard’s integrity and passion as an actor and devotion to his craft helped transport ‘Star Trek’ into television history. His vision and heart are bigger than the universe.”

“I was lucky to spend many happy hours with Leonard socially and in front of the camera. The calibre and serious commitment of his work on ‘Star Trek’ was one of the things all of us on ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ sought to match and be inspired by. His work will not be forgotten,” Patrick Stewart, who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” said in a Facebook post.

“He was a talented actor, director, poet and photographer. But his most enduring quality was his kindness and his desire to make you the most you could be. Like everyone who knew or knew of him, I will miss him,” actor Steve Guttenberg, who starred in the Nimoy-directed blockbuster comedy “Three Men and a Baby,” said in a statement.

“God Bless You, Leonard Nimoy… May Angels guide thee to thy rest! #agoodman #talented #funny #awesome,” actor LeVar Burton, who played Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” said on Twitter.

“RIP Leonard Nimoy. So many of us at NASA were inspired by Star Trek. Boldly go…” the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) wrote on Twitter.

“He lived long, he prospered, and he touched us all. RIP Leonard Nimoy,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Twitter.

“Leonard Nimoy created a positive role model who inspired untold numbers of viewers to learn more about the universe,” Space Foundation Chief Executive Officer Elliot Pulham said in a statement. “Many of those people are ardent space supporters and industry leaders today.”

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey in Los Angeles, Patricia Reaney in New York and Susan Heavey in Washington, Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis, Christian Plumb and Lisa Shumaker)

Reaction to death of 'Star Trek' actor Leonard Nimoy

Google's Blogger reverses porn policy after user backlash

NEW YORK (AP) — Apparently Google bloggers like to post porn. A lot.

Just three days after saying sexually explicit material would be banned from public Blogger forum sites, Google is backing down. Faced with “a ton of feedback,” Google said Friday that it instead will “step up enforcement” against commercial and illegal porn.

Google spokeswoman Katie Watson said the company does not disclose how many Blogger users it has nor how many of them would have been affected by the policy change.

On Tuesday, Google warned Bloggers that effective March 23 any site hosting nude pictures would be switched to private mode — only available to the authors and invited viewers. That ban came the same day that social forum and news site Reddit said it would remove explicit photos, videos and links if the person pictured hadn’t consented to the image being posted.

In an online post Friday, Google’s Blogger said longtime users thought it was unfair to suddenly change the policy. The company also was swayed by users who say posting sexually explicit content is part of expressing their identities.

Sexually explicit content on Blogger will still be marked by an “adult content” warning. And Google’s Blogger policy does not allow users to post nudes or sexually explicit images of someone else without that person’s consent.

Mountain View, California-based Google Inc. bought Blogger in 2003. It was created by a company founded by Evan Williams, who would go on to co-found Twitter.

Blogging platforms have different approaches to porn and nudity. WordPress permits “mature content,” but excludes it from public areas of the service and does not allow pornographic material such as “explicit sexual acts.” Photo-heavy Tumblr, now a part of Yahoo, says “sexual or adult-oriented content” must be flagged as “Not Suitable for Work” and does not allow for the embedding of sexually explicit video. Medium, also founded by Evan Williams, says flat-out: “No porn.”

___

Online: http://bit.ly/1JUPeEK

Google's Blogger reverses porn policy after user backlash