Ancient Burial Site Found Submerged Off Florida
State officials say archaeologists have located a 7,000-year-old Native American ancestral burial site submerged in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.
Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner announced Wednesday that the Manasota Key Offshore archaeological site is on the continental shelf near Venice, preserved in what appears to have been a peat-bottomed freshwater pond.
Reports of the site began in June 2016 when divers identified possible human skeletal material. Archaeologists have since confirmed that it dates from the Early Archaic period.
Officials say offshore prehistoric burial sites are rare, with others located in Israel and Denmark.
The site is protected by law, and it is illegal for anyone not authorized by the state to excavate or remove anything.
your ad hereTop 5 Songs for Week Ending March 3
We’re igniting the five most popular songs in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart, for the week ending March 3, 2018.
This week’s Hot Shot Debut hit lands at No. 6 … so near, yet so far. Meanwhile, the Top Five songs hold in place for yet another week.
Number 5: Post Malone Featuring 21 Savage “Rockstar”
Post Malone and 21 Savage hold in fifth place with former title-holder “Rockstar.”
Post’s latest single “Psycho” features Ty Dolla $ign, and last weekend, Post dropped some accompanying merchandise. Three graphic long-sleeve tees can be had in gray, black or white, with each tee sporting a different graphic design … including gorillas and construction trucks. You can get them for $50 apiece at postmaloneshop.com.
Number 4: Camila Cabello Featuring Young Thug “Havana”
Camila Cabello and Young Thug stay put in fourth place with their former champ “Havana.”
Although Camila was born in Cuba, her family relocated to Miami when she was five. Camila just released a 17-minute mini-documentary titled “Made In Miami,” and you can see it right now on my Twitter page, Ray On The Hits.
Number 3: Bruno Mars & Cardi B “Finesse”
Bruno Mars and Cardi B spend another week in third place with “Finesse.” Bruno’s 24 K Magic World Tour is a roaring success. Last year, it finished fourth on Pollstar’s list of the Top 100 Worldwide Tours, behind Coldplay, Guns ‘N Roses, and U2. This year, Bruno continues to pack arenas. He’s currently in New Zealand and Australia, with Asia following in April.
Number 2: Ed Sheeran “Perfect”
Ed Sheeran’s still your man in second place with “Perfect.” The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry — IFPI for short — has named Ed the world’s best-selling recording artist of 2017.
“Divide” was the global No. 1 album, going multi-platinum in 36 markets, while “Shape Of You” took top singles honors. It went multi-platinum in 32 markets.
Number 1: Drake “God’s Plan”
The IFPI winner of 2016 — Drake — tops the Hot 100 for a fourth week with “God’s Plan.”
One of Drake’s old notebooks is up for sale … for a cool $54,000. Recovered from Drake’s grandfather’s furniture factory in Toronto, it features Drake’s signature in his real name — Aubrey Graham — along with handwritten rap lyrics. It’s available on the website MomentsInTime.com.
That’s it for now, but join us next week for another great lineup.
your ad hereTurbulent Year Casts Shadow Over 2018 Iditarod
The 46th running of Alaska’s famed Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race kicks off Saturday amid the most turbulent year ever for the annual long-distance contest that spans mountain ranges, the frozen Yukon River and dangerous sea ice along the Bering Sea coast.
Among the multiple problems: a champion’s dog doping scandal, the loss of major sponsor Wells Fargo, discontent among mushers and escalating pressure from animal rights activists, who say the dogs are run to death or left with serious injuries. The Iditarod has had its ups and downs over the decades, but the current storm of troubles is raising questions about the future of the 1,000-mile (1,600-kilometer) race that for many symbolizes the contest between mortals and Alaska’s unforgiving nature.
Leo Rasmussen, one of the race’s founders, predicted the Iditarod is heading for extinction within the next few years, given an “extreme lack of organization” from its leadership.
“You can only burn so many stumps, you know, and you’re done,” he says.
Iditarod CEO Stan Hooley acknowledged organizers have weathered a dark time but disagreed the race faces an uncertain future.
“There’s always going to be an Iditarod,” he said. “I consider this more of a growing process than anything else.”
The Iditarod’s governing board disclosed in October that four dogs belonging to four-time winner Dallas Seavey tested positive for a banned substance, the opioid painkiller tramadol, after his second-place finish last March behind his father, Mitch Seavey. It faced criticism for not releasing the information sooner.
The Iditarod said it couldn’t prove Dallas Seavey administered the drugs to his dogs, and didn’t punish him. Since then, the rules have been changed to hold mushers liable for any positive drug test unless they can show something beyond their control happened.
The younger Seavey, who denied administering tramadol to his dogs, also came under scrutiny when the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a longtime race critic, complained about a kennel operated by the musher based on allegations of sick, injured or dead dogs. Local investigators said they found no evidence of animal cruelty in the matter.
Dallas Seavey is sitting out this year’s race in protest over the handling of the doping investigation. Instead, he is in Norway to participate in another sled dog race, the Finnmarkslopet, which begins March 9.
PETA protest
The deaths of five dogs connected to last year’s race also played a role in increasing pressure from animal rights activists. Three of the deaths occurred during the race, and two dogs died after being dropped from the competition. One got loose from a handler and was hit by a car, and another died as it was flown to Anchorage, likely from hyperthermia. The race went without dog deaths in several recent years.
PETA says that for the first time, about a dozen of its members will protest the race in person at the ceremonial and competitive starts and at the finish line, in the remote coastal town of Nome. They plan to bring five headstones with the names of the dogs that died in 2017.
By PETA’s count, the dog deaths bring the total to more than 150 over the Iditarod’s history. Race officials dispute those numbers but have not provided their own despite numerous requests from The Associated Press.
“If the human participants want to race to Nome, have at it,” PETA spokeswoman Colleen O’Brien said. “But don’t force these dogs to run until their paws are bloody and they die on the trail.”
Race officials blame activists for using manipulative information to pressure corporate sponsors like Wells Fargo, a longtime backer that severed ties to the Iditarod last spring.
Mitch Seavey, who is seeking a fourth Iditarod championship, said his son is the happiest he’s seen him in months, and is reveling in heavy snow in Norway. The elder Seavey said he himself is not going to be distracted by “all the noise,” but is focusing on his dogs and the race ahead.
“There’s been a lot of craziness, but it’s the people who are insane,” he said. “The dogs aren’t crazy.”
Climate change
There’s one bright spot for organizers: Optimal trail conditions. A warming climate in recent years has caused significant disruptions, including the rerouting of the 2017 and 2015 races hundreds of miles to the north because of dangerous conditions. As always, the race will begin with the customary ceremonial start in Anchorage, but the competitive portion beginning Sunday north of Anchorage will follow a southern route for the first time since 2013. Traditionally, southern and northern routes are alternated every year.
The late timing of the Iditarod Trail Committee’s disclosure of the doping matter prompted the race’s major sponsors to commission an independent consultant late last year. The consultant’s report said the committee took months to release the information, causing concerns among many about a lack of transparency.
The consultant called on organizers to develop a plan to rebuild trust with mushers and sponsors.
“Both of these partner groups are on the verge of withdrawing their support for this race as a result of their distrust in this board,” the report states.
More recently, a group of mushers named the Iditarod Official Finishers Club has called for the resignation of the Iditarod board president and other board leaders it says have conflicts. It also has criticized the board in its handling of the doping scandal. Hooley, the race CEO, said conversations are under way to replace some members.
Four-time winner Jeff King said he sees room for improvements after the doping controversy caught organizers “flat-footed,” and he is ready for a significant change in the board leadership. But he doesn’t believe the Iditarod is nearing the end of its lifespan, and laughs when asked about it.
“You can count on from me, and many mushers that I would bet my life on, that we will continue to do the best we can for our dogs and the event,” he said.
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Trump, Alec Baldwin Take Aim at Each Other on Twitter
President Donald Trump isn’t pleased with Alec Baldwin’s latest comment that impersonating the president is “agony,” and is suggesting Saturday Night Live replace the comedian.
“Alec Baldwin, whose dying mediocre career was saved by his terrible impersonation of me on SNL, now says playing me was agony. Alec, it was agony for those who were forced to watch. Bring back Darrell Hammond, funnier and a far greater talent!” Trump tweeted.
Baldwin responded in a series of tweets.
“Agony though it may be, I’d like to hang in there for the impeachment hearings, the resignation speech, the farewell helicopter ride to Mara-A-Lago [sic]. You know. The Good Stuff. That we’ve all been waiting for.”
Baldwin also tweeted that he was “Looking forward to the Trump Presidential Library” and suggested that it would contain a live Twitter feed and “a little black book w the phone numbers of porn stars.” In a third tweet, he asked that first lady Melania Trump stop calling him to ask for tickets to “Saturday Night Live.”
Baldwin, a Democratic activist, received an Emmy award for his running parody last year on Saturday Night Live, or SNL. But he tells The Hollywood Reporter that he doesn’t enjoy it: “Every time I do it now, it’s like agony. Agony. I can’t.”
The comedian joked that if Trump wins in 2020 he might “host a game show in Spain.”
your ad hereIndia’s Ambitious Health Care Plan Sparks Hope, Questions
From a small village in Uttar Pradesh, laborer Shavan Kumar, has brought his 38-year-old wife to a government-run hospital New Delhi to be treated for a heart condition. But he worries that the $500 loan he has taken will not cover the cost of her medical care; although the treatment is free, he has to pay for medicines, tests and their stay in the city.
“I am scared about how I will repay the money I have borrowed. What can a man working on daily wages do? It is in God’s hands,” Kumar said.
The Indian government has announced it will implement what it calls the world’s largest public health insurance plan, offering coverages of about $8,000 to poor and low-income families. That could be a game-changer for the 63 million people like Shavan Kumar who are driven into poverty every year by “catastrophic” expenses on health care, according to the Health Ministry.
Dubbed “Modicare” in a reference of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the hugely ambitious scale of the project – which proposes to insure 500 million people – has caused a wave of optimism in a country where improving access to health services has never been a political priority.
However, in a nation where many government initiatives are hobbled with poor implementation, there are concerns about how it will work and how it will be funded.
Priya Balasubramaniam, a health specialist at the Public Health Foundation in New Delhi questions whether the $300 million earmarked this year will get the project off the ground. “While this has definitely come with a bang, I think for those of us who want to move to the next level, it is really about the fiscal space that the government has allocated for a scheme as ambitious as this,” she says.
Officials say the vast scale of the project will drive down insurance premiums to as little as $18 per year. That adds up to $1.7 billion – an outlay that the government plans to make with funds pooled by both the federal and state governments.
Closing rich and poor gap
Health experts also hope the insurance cover will improve the quality of care by opening the doors of India’s expensive private hospitals to the poor.
A massive gap exists between private and public hospitals. The former have state-of-the-art medical facilities but only the upper income groups can afford their steep costs. On the other hand, quality public hospitals such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences where Shavan Kumar brought his wife offer free treatment, but are few in number, confined to the big cities and hugely overburdened.
That is the dilemma that Hari Singh, a New Delhi resident, faced when he broke his knee in a road accident three months ago. Having no savings, he first went to a government hospital, but left quickly and headed to a private hospital.
“The conditions were so miserable, the toilets were filthy, two patients were put on one stretcher and there was no system at all. I got very scared,” he says.
But to pay for his care he had to borrow $5,000 at a crippling interest rate of 5 percent a month. Now he does not know when he can return to his job as a driver or how to support his two young children.
Ashok Agarwal, founder of the Indian Institute of Health Management Research, hopes the new government project will change that. “For the first time poor people would have a choice to go to a center where they feel comfortable,” he says. “Once you have insurance which is willing to pay, then the load of the patients can go to the private sector also.”
He says it will also incentivize private hospitals to improve facilities to attract patients. “Imagine you can have 500 million customers at your doorstep. Which company would not like that to happen?”
Health professionals underline that the insurance initiative needs to go hand-in-hand with improved primary health services and point out that poor people often land up in hospitals because they cannot afford day-to-day medical care and medicines.
But most government-run medical centers “are dysfunctional, lacking equipment, medicines and even qualified staff,” says Balasubramaniam, the health specialist at the Public Health Foundation in New Delhi. “You are focusing on the top of the pyramid while the foundations are still very shaky.” For example Shavan Kumar may never have needed to head to a hospital in New Delhi if his wife’s condition had been diagnosed earlier.
But in a country where government spending on health care is among the lowest in the world – just 1 percent of the GDP – the project has sparked hope. “What the government has done in one stroke is to look at 500 million at the same time. I have no doubt it will take a few years to come on the ground and be stabilized, but the intent is very good,” says Agarwal.
your ad hereEgyptian Teen Offers Hope to Disabled With New Exoskeleton
An Egyptian teenager has turned cables and sheets of aluminum and metal into a robotic exoskeleton that he says can one day help the disabled walk. Faith Lapidus reports.
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Mobile Library Promotes Reading Among Kabul Children
There’s a new library in Kabul, Afghanistan, but this one has wheels, part of a wider plan to promote reading and literacy for the children and teenagers of Kabul. As VOA’s Sayed Hasib Maududi reports, those who want to read a good book just need to look for the blue bus. Faith Lapidus narrates.
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Another Flying Car Soon to Make Its Debut
Forget self-driving cars! Imagine a future filled with flying cars. The latest design comes from the Netherlands, where a company plans to officially unveil the newest combination of a gyrocopter and a sports car. VOA’s George Putic has more.
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Report: Narcotics Consumption, Production Up Significantly Worldwide
Illegal heroin and fentanyl exports from Mexico to the United States are on the rise, according to World Drug Report 2017 compiled by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and backed by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Speaking in Mexico City, as the report, which tracks narcotics consumption and production throughout the world, was released Thursday, INCB President Raul Martin del Campo noted the significant increase of drug use around the world, highlighting the harvest and trafficking of illicit drugs in and from South America.
“Poppy harvest that you see in so many countries throughout South America, as you do in Mexico, en route to the United States has increased by a significant amount as registered in the report,” he said. “Fentanyl precursors have also been detected as entering the country, and that is having a consequence with respect to the composition of these drugs that are being exported illegally.”
Fentanyl interceptions skyrocket
Seizures of fentanyl, a significant contributor to the epidemic of overdose deaths, by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection increased from less than 1 kilogram in 2013 to about 200 kilograms in 2016, the INCB said.
Three-quarters of the cocaine consumed in Mexico comes from Mexico and Central America, the report noted.
Mexico is under increasing pressure to combat drug trafficking after more than 25,000 homicides were recorded last year across the country as rival drug gangs increasingly splintered into smaller, more violent groups.
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Uber Starts Offering Rides to Doctor
Uber is driving deeper into health care by offering to take patients in every U.S. market where it operates to their next medical appointment.
The ride-hailing service said Thursday its Uber Health business will handle rides set up by doctor’s offices or other health care providers and then bill that business, not the patient, for the service. The company said rides can be set up within a few hours or days in advance. Patients won’t need access to a smartphone to use the service.
Uber began testing the service last summer. More than 100 health care providers have signed up including hospitals, clinics and physical therapy centers.
Company leaders said they are expanding because there’s a need. They cite federal government research that estimates that more than 3 million people do not obtain medical care due to transportation problems.
“There are a lot of people out there who are not going to the doctor simply because they can’t physically make it there,” said Uber Health executive Jay Holley.
He added that the service also represents a business opportunity for Uber by connecting the company with a lot of first-time users.
Uber will bill care providers who sign up for the service monthly based on their usage. Holley said some may pass the cost on to their customers, but most of the providers it has worked with so far pay for the rides out of their operating budget.
Uber rival Lyft offers a similar service called Concierge, which allows health care providers to set up rides for patients to get to appointments. The providers pay for the rides. Lyft also has patient transport partnerships with larger health care providers.
Health insurers and others have long recognized the need to help some patients, especially those with low incomes, make their medical appointments.
Molina Healthcare Inc. has offered a transportation benefit to its customers for around 25 years and says that more than 3 million people are eligible. Molina specializes in administering the state- and federally funded Medicaid programs for poor people and the disabled.
Spokeswoman Laura Murray said the insurer found that covering transportation expenses helps patients keep regular appointments and preventive care visits, which can include things like flu shots or checkups. She said that can improve patient health and cut down on unnecessary emergency room visits.
Adams Clinical runs clinical trials for drug companies and started using Uber Health in the middle of last year. Since then, trial participation has grown and patients have started staying in the studies longer, CEO Nelson Rutrick said.
The Watertown, Massachusetts, company had used taxis before switching to Uber. Rutrick said taxis were more expensive and required advance planning to get a cab to drive an hour or two to pick someone up.
“Uber is already where the patient lives,” he said.
your ad hereAlmost Any Amount of Exercise May Help Older Men Win Longevity Race
Older men may face premature death if they spend most of the day sitting around, but it doesn’t require a huge amount of exercise to increase their chances of living longer, a study in the UK suggests.
Researchers asked 1,655 men, all between 71 and 92 years old, to wear accelerometers for one week. The goal was to assess their activity levels.
Among a subset of 1,274 men without cardiovascular disease or heart failure who wore the accelerometers as directed, participants logged a daily average of 616 minutes of sedentary time, 199 minutes of light activity and 40 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise.
After following the men for up to six years, there were 194 deaths.
For each additional 30 minutes of sedentary time on a typical day, men were 17 percent more likely to die during the study, researchers report in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Every extra half hour of light activity, however, was associated with 17 percent lower odds of death.
“For those who are able, it remains a good idea to aim for at least 150 minutes each week of moderate or more intense activity, that is, activities that get the heart beating faster,” said lead study author Barbara Jefferis of University College London.
“Our results suggest that whilst moderate or more intense activity is best, for older men who are unable to achieve the target, doing even light physical activity is worthwhile for extending the lifespan,” Jefferis said by email.
Not surprisingly, researchers also found that men were about 40 percent less likely to die during the study when they got the minimum recommended 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each week, compared to men who didn’t achieve that amount.
Long or short bursts
And the benefit was similar whether men got this total amount of exercise in brief, sporadic bouts of less than 10 minutes at a time or they exercised in longer bouts of at least 10 minutes or more.
“We found that as long as men accumulated 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week, it didn’t matter whether it was in long or short bursts,” Jefferis said.
“This is encouraging for older adults, as it is easier for them to reach the target without worrying about sustaining activity in bouts.”
While 66 percent of the men managed to get at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise in short bursts, just 16 percent achieved this in bouts of 10 minutes or longer, the study found.
The study wasn’t a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how the amount or duration of exercise men get might directly impact longevity.
Another limitation is that accelerometers used in the study didn’t distinguish between standing time and sitting, which might have different health effects, researchers note. Men who followed through with wearing the devices also tended to be younger and healthier than men who didn’t.
Mental benefits
Still, the results add to evidence that any exercise is better than none, even if more intense activity is better, said Keith Diaz, a researcher at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City who wasn’t involved in the study.
“So, whether one walks for 1 minute at a time or 10 minutes at a time, any duration of activity at a time is healthful,” Diaz said by email.
“Regular exercise can lower blood pressure, blood sugar levels, body weight, triglycerides, and unhealthy LDL cholesterol; all of which can improve your heart’s health and, in turn, longevity,” Diaz added. “Exercise can also help memory and thinking by stimulating the release of chemicals in the brain that affect the health of brain cells and the growth of new blood vessels in the brain.”
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Facebook Ends Six-Country Test of Two Separate News Feeds
Facebook Inc on Thursday put an end to a test of splitting its signature News Feed into two, an idea that roiled how people consumed news in six countries where the test occurred and added to concern about Facebook’s power.
The test created two streaming series of posts. One was focused on photos and other updates from friends and family, and a second was called an “explore feed.” It was dedicated to material from Facebook pages that the user had liked, such as media outlets or sports teams.
The social media network decided to end the test and maintain one feed because people told the company in surveys they did not like the change, Adam Mosseri, head of the News Feed at Facebook, said in a statement.
“In surveys, people told us they were less satisfied with the posts they were seeing, and having two separate feeds didn’t actually help them connect more with friends and family,” Mosseri said.
The test began in October and took place in Bolivia, Cambodia, Guatemala, Serbia, Slovakia and Sri Lanka, and it quickly affected website traffic for smaller media outlets.
Mosseri said the company had also “received feedback that we made it harder for people in the test countries to access important information, and that we didn’t communicate the test clearly.”
He said Facebook would, in response, revise how it tests product changes although he did not say how.
Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has unveiled other changes to the Facebook News Feed in the past two months to fight sensationalism and prioritize posts from friends and family.
The world’s largest social network and its competitors are under pressure from users and government authorities to make their services less addictive and to stem the spread of false news stories and hoaxes.
Reporting by David Ingram.
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‘Weinstein’ on PBS Studies Why Alleged Sexual Misconduct Persisted
In making a documentary about disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, PBS’ Frontline wanted to focus less on what he did than on how the alleged sexual misconduct went on for so long.
“Weinstein” airs Friday on most PBS stations, two nights before the Academy Awards. Its richness comes in detailing the combination of fear, intimidation and self-interested passivity that papered over allegations of harassment and assault dating back nearly 40 years, involving the famous and obscure alike.
More than 100 women have come forward since stories about the influential film producer’s behavior were first published in The New York Times and The New Yorker magazine last fall. Weinstein has denied some of the allegations. Several women speak to Frontline, their stories unfolding with numbing similarity, usually starting with an unwanted request for a massage.
To illustrate how long this has been going on, PBS interviews two women who worked on Weinstein’s first film in the early 1980s, back when he ran a concert promotion business in Buffalo, New York. Suza Maher-Wilson and Paula Wachowiak kept their stories to themselves because they figured no one else would care, or that it typified how young women were treated in the entertainment industry.
Career suffered
Actress Sean Young said she rebuffed Weinstein when he exposed himself. “I upset a few important men and the trajectory of my career … ,” she said, her hand motioning downward.
Frontline also speaks with two former Weinstein employees, Paul Webster and Tom Prince, who illustrated with their own inaction how things continued. Webster said he knew Weinstein was a dangerous character when he took a job there in 1995. “But I knew he was in the epicenter of where I wanted to be,” he said.
Webster seems to wrestle on camera with his conscience. He said he knew of character traits of Weinstein’s that perhaps could lead to predatory behavior. Looking back, he said, “I did know and I chose to suppress it. I chose to hide from that fact.”
Prince said he heard innuendoes, and he became suspicious of why the company was spending a lot of money to fly young women around the world. But he didn’t give it much thought, primarily because he was focused on his day-to-day job.
For people not motivated to keep quiet, Weinstein had many tools at his disposal. Alleged victims signed nondisclosure agreements. Investigative companies were used; one lawyer who told Weinstein he’d heard that the mogul assaulted women was told that his own behavior had been investigated. New York authorities, despite convincing an Italian model who alleged she was groped by Weinstein to wear a wire when she met with him again, dropped their case after a sophisticated tabloid campaign to disparage her.
“I felt if you could understand that more deeply, it could have consequences beyond the Harvey Weinstein story — that it’s important and appropriate to speak out when you’re observing something that isn’t quite right,” said Raney Aronson-Rath, executive producer of Frontline.
Silence remains
Several people are still reluctant to talk. Filmmakers interviewed Zelda Perkins, a former Weinstein assistant who broke a nondisclosure agreement after advocating for a friend who alleged that Weinstein assaulted her. Her friend still hasn’t spoken publicly.
In an illustration of how difficult the story was to crack, PBS talks to two well-regarded journalists — Ken Auletta of The New Yorker and Kim Masters of The Hollywood Reporter — who tried and failed. Auletta even confronted Weinstein about accusations made by Perkins.
“I wish I could have nailed the guy in 2002,” Auletta says in the film. “The problem was that I couldn’t prove it.”
With the self-imposed Oscars deadline, “Weinstein” came together quickly for a documentary. Some important interviews, including Webster and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, were conducted within the past two weeks, Aronson-Rath said.
PBS did not get an interview with Weinstein, but his camp specifically discusses some of the accusations discussed in the film. The documentary’s final scene was of reporters recently cornering Weinstein. “We all make mistakes. Second chance, I hope,” Weinstein said, before getting into an SUV.
It was also the first Frontline collaboration with the BBC, which was airing “Weinstein” Thursday. The organizations merged investigative teams to work faster, and the combination of the PBS and BBC names helped persuade some interview subjects to talk, she said.
“We felt that the stakes were so high in this investigation that we wanted to make sure that we were working together on all levels,” she said.
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#MeToo, Black Lives Matter Movements Reflected in Oscars 2018
Movements such as #OscarsSoWhite, Black Lives Matter and #MeToo have helped bring changes in the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, allowing more voting members from minorities and women. As a result, audiences and critics may see the Oscars cover a wider racial and gender breadth this year. VOA’s Penelope Poulou spoke with Giovanna Chesler, director of the Film and Video Studies Program at George Mason University, about the Oscar nominees making a difference.
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Chris Stapleton Leads ACM Nominations, Reba Returns as Host
Chris Stapleton, who released two top-selling albums last year, leads the Academy of Country Music Awards with eight nominations, including his first entertainer of the year nomination.
Reba McEntire announced the nominations Thursday on “CBS This Morning” as well as her return as host for a record 15th year. The show will air April 15 from Las Vegas on CBS.
Thomas Rhett earned six nominations, Keith Urban had five nominations, and songwriter and producer Shane McAnally had five nods. Miranda Lambert and Maren Morris had four nominations each. The top category of entertainer of the year was an all-male line-up including Stapleton, Urban, Jason Aldean, Garth Brooks and Luke Bryan.
McEntire, who recently took on the role as the first female Colonel Sanders for KFC advertisements, has hosted the awards show more than anyone, dating back to 1986. She has co-hosted the show with Hank Williams Jr., Alan Jackson and Blake Shelton, and hosted solo for several years. McEntire is also nominated for female vocalist of the year.
Stapleton is nominated twice as an artist and producer for album of the year for his “From A Room: Volume 1” and single record of the year for “Broken Halos.” He is also nominated as artist and songwriter in the song of the year category for “Whiskey and You.” He is also nominated for male vocalist of the year.
Rhett’s nominations include album of the year for “Life Changes” and male vocalist of the year, which he won last year. He is also nominated for vocal event of the year with Morris for their duet “Craving You” and music video of the year.
Urban earned nominations in the categories of male vocalist, song of the year for his song “Female” and vocal event of the year.
Lambert, a perennial favorite at the ACMs, is the current record holder for most consecutive wins in the female vocalist of the year category and is currently tied with Brooks and Dunn as artists with the most awards in ACM history with 29 wins each. Lambert is nominated in female vocalist, song of the year and video of the year categories.
Morris is nominated for female vocalist and is nominated twice in the vocal event of the year category, once with Rhett and another for a duet with Vince Gill called “Dear Hate,” which was released after the mass shooting at a Las Vegas country music festival last year.
Sam Hunt, Little Big Town and Midland all have three nominations each.
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Benin Leader’s Visit Is France’s First Test on Returning African Art Treasures
In the 19th century, the Kingdom of Dahomey was a major West African power, boasting a flourishing slave trade with Europe and a feared corps of Amazon women warriors. Commissioned by the royal court, its art — intricate wood and ivory carvings, metalwork and appliqué cloth — stood as a potent symbol of the kingdom’s might.
But by 1894, Dahomey was annexed by France after a pair of brutal wars. Its artifacts ended up in French museums and private collections.
Now modern-day Benin, the seat of the former Dahomey kingdom, may have the best chance to date of getting them back, as French President Emmanuel Macron vows to make the return of treasures from former African colonies a top priority. That vow will be tested next week, when Benin President Patrice Talon visits France. Restitution of Dahomey artifacts is expected to rank high in (March 6) discussions between the two leaders.
“The question is to give back what has been stolen during the worst conditions of war,” said Marie-Cecile Zinsou, daughter of Benin’s former prime minister and president of the Zinsou Foundation, an organization in the main city, Cotonou, that promotes African art.
“It’s very small for France, but for us it’s everything,” she said of the roughly 5,000 artifacts Benin wants back. “We have nothing left in Benin — we have copies, but no original trace of our history.”
Made during a November speech in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, Macron’s restitution promise has been described as historic and even revolutionary. Over the next five years, he said, the conditions must be met ‘for the temporary or permanent restitution of African heritage to Africa.”
“African heritage can’t just be in European private collections and museums,” Macron said. “African heritage must be highlighted in Paris, but also in Dakar, in Lagos, in Cotonou.”
Experts believe that if realized, France’s example may prove the tipping point for other former colonial powers, similarly pressured by restitution claims. But while much of Africa’s cultural heritage lies outside the continent — stolen, sold or otherwise expatriated by European soldiers, missionaries and Africans themselves — returning it lays bare a tangle of difficult questions.
Who should receive artifacts that may have changed hands and borders many times over the years? Should private collections, as well as national museums be compelled to return the treasures? And would those returns be permanent or temporary? In France, repatriation may also demand changing current law that recognizes the artifacts as inalienable cultural heritage.
Skeptics argue that many African countries lack national museums or other spaces capable of housing old and fragile artifacts. And apart from a handful of exceptions like Benin, some say, few governments have mounted strong restitution campaigns.
“All these countries have so many problems to solve that it’s not been the priority,” according to Corinne Hershkovitch, a French lawyer specializing in the restitution of cultural goods. “But it has be be a priority if you want to make cultural heritage come back to your country.”
Others say restitution discussions are taking place outside the media spotlight. Many agree returning African art will demand creative ways of thinking and pooling resources.
“The debate has started in France,” said Mechtild Rössler, director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Center. “Museums now need to look at their own collection and identify pieces, which may have been trafficked illegally, or which may have come out of some dubious circumstances during colonialism. It’s part of reviewing the whole colonial history.”
The debate also heating is up in other European countries, which collectively house several hundred thousand African artefacts. That includes in Germany, where Berlin’s museum chief wants to draw up international museum guidelines for the repatriation of African artefacts — similar to those created for the return of Nazi-confiscated art.
In Britain, Cambridge University students are calling for a bronze cockerel on the university campus to be returned to Nigeria. It is among hundreds of ‘Benin bronzes’ looted during colonial days whose return will be discussed by European museums during a meeting this year. Restitution also will be on the menu at yet another conference being organized in Brazzaville.
“It’s a matter of justice and culture, but it’s also a matter of business,” said Louis-Georges Tin, head of CRAN, an umbrella group of black French associations that helped spearhead some of the repatriation demands. “You cannot do business with African countries and be a robber at the same time.”
For African countries, repatriating the artefacts carries another powerful economic argument, since they can attract sought-after tourism revenue. “Museums can be the first entry point to learn about the history and culture of these countries,” said UNESCO’s Rossler. “But there must also be different explanations than those given in Europe.”
Beyond restituting African artifacts, Rossler also said Europe could help African countries to house them.
“I have seen museums in Africa where this is absolutely possible,” she said, adding that in other cases, the European Union or individual countries may offer financing.
In France, the public Quai Branly Museum, which houses most of the country’s colonial-era African artifacts, says it is open to restitution demands — providing proper conditions and political will exist.
“We don’t return objects just to heal wounds,” Quai Branly’s president, Stephane Martin, told Paris Match magazine. “The people who receive them must have a real desire to do something with them.”
Others argue African countries should be making those calls.
“It’s our problem what to do with our heritage,” said Zinsou of the Benin foundation. “It’s not a question of France telling us what to do.”
In 2016, Benin became the first sub-Saharan African country demanding that France return its artifacts, arguing they were important both culturally and economically. But last year, the previous French government rejected that request, arguing the pieces now were legally French property. If the Macron administration gives the green light, it may demand changing French law.
“I hope Benin will show what is possible,” Zinsou said. “Even if you’re a poor country, you can [repatriate artifacts] properly.”
Restitution questions also are roiling private galleries and auction houses. But at his office near the Seine River, Paris gallery owner Robert Vallois is serene.
“The doors are open for discussion among people of good will,” he said.
Vallois and group of local gallery owners have offered one answer to the debate. In 2015, they opened a small museum in Benin that exhibits art donated from their own collections.
“Is it a national treasure for France, or is it a national treasure for Africa?” Vallois asked. “Both. The problem is to show it to the people.”
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Equifax Finds Additional 2.4 Million Impacted by 2017 Breach
Equifax said Thursday that an additional 2.4 million Americans were impacted by last year’s data breach, however these newly disclosed consumers had significantly less personal information stolen.
The company says the additional consumers only had their names and a partial driver’s license number stolen by the attackers, unlike the original 145.5 million Americans who had their Social Security numbers impacted. Attackers were unable to get the state where the license was issued, the date of issuance or its expiration date.
In total, roughly 147.9 million Americans have been impacted by Equifax’s data breach. It remains the largest data breach of personal information in history.
The company says they were able to find the additional 2.4 million Americans by cross referencing names with partial driver’s license numbers using both internal and external data sources. These Americans were not found in the original breach because Equifax had focused its investigation on those with Social Security numbers impacted. Individuals with stolen Social Security numbers are generally more at risk for identity theft because of how prolific Social Security numbers are used in identity verification.
Equifax Inc. says it will reach out to all newly impacted consumers and will provide the same credit monitoring and identity theft protection services they have been offering to the original victims.
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Popular Alaska Peak Weighs New Rules for Climbers’ Poop
Climbers on North America’s tallest mountain may have to start packing out more of their poop after a researcher determined a glacier in which much of it has been dumped over the past decade probably is not decomposing the human waste.
Michael Loso, a glacier geologist, calculates that 36,000 climbers between 1951 and 2012 deposited 152,000 to 215,000 pounds (69 to 97 metric tons) of feces onto Kahiltna Glacier, part of the most popular route to Denali’s summit.
For more than a decade, the National Park Service has required that climbers keep waste off the Alaska mountain’s surface. Mountaineers captured their poop in biodegradable bags held by portable toilets and pitched it into deep crevasses on the glacier.
However, Loso’s research indicates human waste never reaches the bottom of the glacier, will never be exposed to extreme temperatures and disintegrate, and likely will reappear downstream as stains on Kahiltna Glacier’s surface where melting exceeds annual snowfall.
Park Service officials say the dumping of human waste that does not decompose is not a practice they want to continue in a national park and a wilderness area.
“These changes are in direct response to the research,” Chris Erickson, a mountain ranger, said by phone from nearby Talkeetna.
The proposed regulations would allow mountaineers to drop waste in only one crevasse at high elevation. They would have to carry out the rest.
Human waste is a concern on most mountains that attract multitudes of climbers, and the issue of poop littering the routes up Mount Everest in Nepal is well-documented. Some mountains are trying to minimize the human waste problem. In Japan, bio-toilets have been set up along the route to Mount Fuji’s summit, and incinerator toilets are at the top. In Tanzania, latrines have been built for climbers making their way to Kilimanjaro’s summit.
The waste can be more than just bothersome. Climbers on Denali, the centerpiece of sprawling Denali National Park, get all their drinking water by melting snow. And snow contaminated by human excrement can spread dangerous bacteria such as E. coli, causing climbers intestinal distress and diarrhea leading to dehydration, a life-threatening condition at high altitude.
Each year about 1,100 people try to reach Denali’s summit at 20,310 feet (6,190 meters). More than 90 percent use a route that starts from a landing strip for small airplanes on Kahiltna Glacier.
Starting in 2007, the Park Service required that human waste be collected in “Clean Mountain Cans,” a portable toilet invented by a Denali park ranger that looks like an extended coffee can. Under current rules, climbers between the base camp and 15,000 feet (4,572 meters) are allowed to toss filled liners into crevasses. Rangers even marked safe places to do so.
Loso for more than a decade has studied Denali human waste management to determine whether feces broke down, and if not, where it went. He buried human waste, dug it up after a year and found it remained at temperatures just below freezing, without undergoing temperature extremes or ultraviolet light that kills bacteria.
“For most bacteria, that’s a really comfortable place to be,” Loso said.
He forecasts that poop could emerge soon on the glacier surface 7 miles (11 kilometers) below the base camp, where the surface melts faster than snow accumulates.
The area is so remote, future visitors are unlikely to see the emerging waste, but Loso’s findings motivated the Park Service to re-examine its rules. The agency also doesn’t want pollution reaching the Kahiltna River, which flows from the glacier.
Under proposed rules, all Denali dung must be deposited in one of two places: the ranger station at Talkeetna or in a crevasse at “Camp Four,” a campsite at 14,200 feet (4,330 meters). Waste dumped there tumbles down a huge ice cliff and is likely to be pulverized and rendered inert, said Erickson, the mountain ranger.
Tom Kirby, a guide for American Alpine Institute, said his company supports any effort to get the waste problem under control.
“I think that’s a pretty reasonable thing to do to promote cleanliness and to keep water coming out of Kahiltna Glacier reasonably clean,” he said.
Colby Coombs, owner of Alaska Mountaineering School, which guides visitors on Denali, said he fully supports the Park Service balancing the safety of climbers, who want to move quickly through dangerous terrain without extra weight, while protecting a wilderness area within a national park.
“Who would like to see a big pile of human waste?” he asked. “That’s disgusting.
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AI Software Differentiates Between Extremist Propaganda and News
The battle to identify and remove extremist video online just got a new weapon. Video-sharing sites can now use artificial intelligence to scan thousands of videos as they are uploaded. Faith Lapidus reports.
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Competitive Ax Throwers in Washington Aim for World Championships
If you’re looking for a new sport, or a new hobby that doesn’t cost a fortune, is open to nearly everyone, and helps relieve stress, you may want to consider ax throwing. All you need is a sharp ax — or axe, as Canadians spell it — and an unsuspecting piece of wood. Arash Arabasadi caught up with an international, competitive ax-throwing league in Washington.
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Gorgeous Orchids Showcased at US Botanic Garden
Orchids are among the world’s most beautiful flowers. Although the blossoms come in different shapes, sizes and colors, they all belong to one of the largest and oldest families of flowering plants on earth. The U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington is showcasing some of the thousands of different orchid varieties in a spectacular exhibit that runs until the first week of April. VOA’s Deborah Block takes us there for a fragrant look at the exotic world of orchids.
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Japanese Fashion Photographer Spotlights Aspiring Senegalese Models
Daichi Yamamoto is a Japanese photographer who has called Senegal home for the past two years. His work captures local fashion, and he’s helped launch the careers of several Senegalese fashion models. For VOA, Chika Oduah has the story from Dakar.
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Oscars Face #MeToo Dilemma
The biggest drama at Sunday’s Academy Awards may be not on the Dolby Theatre stage but in the behind-the-scenes moves to tackle the sexual misconduct scandal that has rocked the industry.
After moving swiftly to expel Oscar-winning film producer Harvey Weinstein last October after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has yet to take action against other people in its ranks who have been accused of impropriety.
They include actor Kevin Spacey, director Roman Polanski and comedian Bill Cosby.
Weinstein, who has denied having nonconsensual sex with anyone, was only the second person in the academy’s 90-year history to be thrown out. His expulsion made the publicity-averse Academy, whose 8,000 members vote on the Oscars, the moral guardian in the #MeToo scandal that has led to dozens of Hollywood figures stepping down or being dropped from creative projects.
“The academy has always wanted to be the symbol of Hollywood, the glamour and excitement and creativity. But now this awful stuff is being told about Hollywood and it’s like, ‘You’re going to be the symbol of the downside, too,’ ” said Tim Gray, awards editor of Hollywood trade publication Variety.
“This is new territory for them. I think they haven’t quite figured it out,” said Gray.
Challenging, fair, methodical
The job of policing accusations against filmmakers, agents and actors among the academy’s members has proved slow and difficult.
The academy issued its first-ever code of conduct in December and set up a task force to handle allegations on a wide range of potential violations. Chief Executive Dawn Hudson told members in a January email that it was “a
challenging process that will not be solved overnight.”
Hudson’s email said the academy’s goal was “not to be an investigative body but rather ensure that when a grievance is made, it will go through a fair and methodical process.”
The academy is developing an online form for submitting claims of misconduct that go beyond sexual behavior to include abuses in matters of gender, sexual orientation, race, age, and religion.
According to the guidelines, claimants must supply evidence of alleged behavior and an accused person has 10 days to respond before the academy’s membership committee reviews the matter.
Only the board of governors can decide whether to suspend or expel a member.
‘Slippery slope’
“Traditionally it’s up to the employer to monitor bad behavior — in this case the studios, TV networks and the agencies,” said Gray. “It’s a slippery slope to get into that. Where do you draw the line?”
The membership list of the invitation-only academy has never been published but the academy said that Spacey, Polanski and Cosby are still members.
Double Oscar-winner Spacey has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 30 men. He apologized to the first accuser and has retreated from public life.
Polanski won an Oscar in 2003 despite being wanted in the United States to serve time for his 1977 admission of the rape of a minor.
Cosby faces retrial in Pennsylvania in April on a charge of sexual assault and has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 60 other women. He denies the allegations.
Director and actor Woody Allen, who won Oscars for Annie Hall and Midnight in Paris, has repeatedly denied a resurfaced 1992 accusation that he molested his stepdaughter when she was a child. Allen has never been a
member of the academy, it said.
Dave Karger, special correspondent for entertainment website IMDB.com, said he didn’t expect any quick action.
“My sense with the academy is that they act judiciously, carefully and deliberately. I can see them making moves to expel certain members, but I see that happening as a multistep process,” Karger said.
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Scientists: Life Can Thrive in Most Extreme Environments
If microbes can live in the most extreme regions on Earth, scientists say it is quite possible they can live on other celestial bodies.
In a recently published study, researchers from Washington State University say bacteria, found in the hyper-arid soil of Chile’s Atacama Desert, can live dormant for decades, patiently waiting for very rare rainfalls.
Once the rain arrives, they quickly reanimate and produce offspring. Since Mars once had flowing water, scientists say it is possible that similar microorganisms may be waiting there for the next opportunity to continue life.
But other celestial bodies within our solar system, such as Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus, have water now, so they too may harbor extraterrestrial life.
Studying life around deep-sea hydrothermal vents near Japan’s island of Okinawa, microbiologists led by a team from the University of Vienna found that certain microbes thrive in conditions similar to those on Enceladus.
The hardiest of the microbes were able to reproduce even in the presence of extremely unfriendly chemicals, such as ammonia and carbon monoxide.
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