Mexico stunned by Trump tweet

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January 26, 2017

As US President Barack Obama prepares to leave office on January 20, here are 10 things his presidency may be remembered for.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a meeting with local farmers at Bedners Farm Fresh Market in Boynton Beach, Florida. (Evan Vucci, AP)
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Mexico City — The Mexican government had no immediate reaction to a tweet by US President Donald Trump that appeared aimed at cancelling a planned January 31 meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
Trump tweeted Thursday that «If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting» in Washington DC.
Trump said on Wednesday he would start building a US-Mexico border wall and vowed to make Mexico pay for it. Mexico opposes the wall and has repeatedly said it won’t pay for it.
Mexican officials said there was no immediate reaction to Trump’s tweet. Officials said on Wednesday Mexico was «considering» cancelling.
Former foreign relations secretary Jorge Castaneda told local media «Pena Nieto has no other choice but to say ‘I’m not going.'»
Trump’s unusual, voluble and unpredictable style appeared to catch Mexico’s normally quiet and cautious diplomacy off guard.
Finance Secretary Jose Antonio Meade told Grupo Formula radio that «I think that, in general, diplomacy is not conducted via Twitter. »
«The foreign relations secretary is involved up there, having meetings up there, and we’ll have to see what comes out of that, what report they send to the president and what conclusions they arrive at from all that,» said Meade.
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UPDATE 3-Microsoft profit up as demand for cloud service soars

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January 26, 2017

(Adds comments from earnings call, updates after hours price)
Jan 26 (Reuters) — Microsoft Corp reported a 3.6 percent rise in fiscal second-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by growth in its fast-growing cloud computing business, but it saw a slight decline in margins in the unit that includes its flagship cloud platform Azure.
Shares of the world’s biggest software company were up about 1.1 percent in after-hours trading.
Since taking charge in 2014, Chief Executive Satya Nadella has steered the company toward cloud services and mobile applications and away from its slowing traditional software business.
Gross margins for Microsoft’s so-called «commercial cloud» business, which includes Azure and versions of its online Office 365 product sold to businesses, were 48 percent, said Chris Suh, head of Microsoft’s investor relations.
That is down from last quarter’s 49 percent but up from 46 percent a year ago, Suh said. The figure is watched closely by investors as a sign of the actual profit made of Microsoft’s cloud products, which the company does not publish.
The Azure platform competes with cloud infrastructure offerings from market leader Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet Inc’s Google, IBM and Oracle Corp.
«We’re not at Amazon’s margin today,» said Suh. «Their infrastructure business is much larger. They have the benefit of scale. We track more like what Amazon was when they were closer to our size. »
On the company’s earnings conference call, Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood fielded questions from analysts about Azure-specific gross margins. She did not disclose a number but said there was a «material improvement» since last quarter.
Analysts also questioned Microsoft’s practice of providing a combined gross margin for cloud infrastructure, which at other firms tends to have gross margins around 30 percent, and cloud software, which at other firms has higher margins of 70 percent or 75 percent. «I do think it will be a blend of those,» Hood said.
But CEO Nadella emphasized that the company thinks of its cloud offerings as comprehensive lineup of both software and infrastructure, as it did with its historical business as a combination of products with different margins, like Office and Windows Server.
«We have a cloud strategy that is not just about infrastructure,» Nadella said, pointing out differences with Amazon Web Services.
Revenue from Microsoft’s ‘Intelligent Cloud’ business, which includes Azure, along with other data center software, rose 8.0 percent to $6.9 billion in the quarter. That beat analysts’ average estimate of $6.73 billion, according to research firm FactSet StreetAccount. Microsoft’s estimates for next quarter were $6.45 billion to $6.65 billion, only slightly hire than FactSet’s $6.61 billion estimate.
In constant currency, Azure’s revenue grew 94 percent year over year, a good pace but still the lowest growth rate since Microsoft began disclosing the number in 2015, and down from 121 percent the previous quarter.
«In general, as long as it’s close to doubling right now, that’s extremely solid performance given the business is getting big from an overall standpoint,» said Cross Research analyst Shannon Cross.
Sales of Office 365 to businesses rose 49 percent, down from 54 percent in the previous quarter. As with Azure, Microsoft does not give an absolute dollar figure for Office 365 sales.
Sales in Microsoft’s personal computing business, which includes its Windows software, once the bedrock of the company, fell 5.0 percent to $11.8 billion, slightly beating the rate at which personal computer sales fell in the quarter.
Along with his push into cloud and mobile, Nadella also orchestrated Microsoft’s biggest acquisition, the $26.2 billion deal for LinkedIn, which closed last month.
LinkedIn contributed $228 million of revenue in the quarter, Microsoft said, but reported a net loss of $100 million, or one cent per share.
Excluding LinkedIn and some other items, Microsoft earned 84 cents per share in the quarter. That beat Wall Street’s average estimate of 79 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company’s net income rose to $5.20 billion, or 66 cents per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, from $5.02 billion, or 62 cents per share, a year earlier. ( http://bit.ly/2kpo0w6 )
Its adjusted revenue, excluding LinkedIn, was $25.838 billion, ahead of analysts’ average estimate of $25.298 billion.
Microsoft’s shares had risen 23.2 percent in the past 12 months, compared with the 20.7 percent gain in the broader S&P 500 index.
(Reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Bill Rigby)

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VW-Vorstandsfrau Hohmann-Dennhardt verlässt Autobauer

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January 26, 2017

Überraschung in Wolfsburg!
► Das für die Aufklärung des Dieselskandals mitverantwortliche VW-Vorstandsmitglied Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt scheidet aus der Wolfsburger Chef-Etage aus.
Volkswagen und Hohmann-Dennhardt trennen sich laut VW „aufgrund unterschiedlicher Auffassungen über Verantwortlichkeiten und die künftigen operativen Arbeitsstrukturen in ihrem Ressort“, wie das Unternehmen mitteilte.
Die frühere Verfassungsrichterin war erst Anfang 2016 von Daimler als Vorstand für Integration und Recht nach Wolfsburg gewechselt — und sollte die Aufarbeitung des Betrugs von Abgastests vorantreiben.
Hohmann-Dennhardt scheide zum 31. Januar „im gegenseitigen Einvernehmen“ aus dem Vorstand des VW-Konzerns aus. Der Aufsichtsrat danke ihr dafür, dass sie mit ihrer «herausragenden Fachkompetenz und Erfahrung» zum Erreichen wichtiger Meilensteine beigetragen habe. Zuvor hatte das „Handelsblatt“ darüber berichtet.
Das Landgericht Hildesheim verdonnerte VW dazu, einem Kunden den vollen Kaufpreis seines Diesel-Fahrzeugs zurück zu zahlen.
Die 66-jährige Hohmann-Dennhardt war als Aufräumerin nach Wolfsburg geholt worden.
Bei Daimler hatte sie bei der Aufarbeitung eines US-Schmiergeld-Skandals — ebenfalls in Vorstandsfunktion — eine gute Figur gemacht. Bevor sie ab 2011 in Stuttgart ein System von Regeln zur Vermeidung zwielichtiger Machenschaften installieren sollte, war sie zwölf Jahre lang Richterin am Bundesverfassungsgericht.
In den 90er Jahren war die SPD-Politikerin hessische Landesministerin unter anderem für Justiz.
Ihr Wirken blieb in Wolfsburg aber nicht ohne Kritik.
Das „Handelsblatt“ will aus Unternehmenskreisen erfahren haben, dass sie die Erwartungen der Konzernführung nicht erfüllen konnte. Laut dpa-Informationen haben sich auch Teile des Aufsichtsrats an der Arbeit von Hohmann-Dennhardt gestört.
Ex-VW-Chef Martin Winterkorn im Untersuchungsausschuss im Bundestag. So lief das Kreuzverhör.
Der Konzern hatte zuletzt in den USA verschiedene Vergleiche mit Milliardenzahlungen in der Sache ausgehandelt. Insgesamt steht die Rechnung für die Rechtskosten des massenhaften Abgasbetrugs derzeit bei rund 23,8 Milliarden US-Dollar — umgerechnet 22,2 Milliarden Euro.
►18,2 Milliarden Euro hat das Unternehmen an Rückstellungen beiseite gelegt. Nach den jüngst eingegangenen Zahlungsverpflichtungen in einem strafrechtlichen Verfahren — nebst Schuldeingeständnis — musste VW allerdings bereits einräumen, dass das zur Seite gelegte Geld nicht reichen könnte.
VW hat aber bei weitem noch nicht alle Rechtsstreitigkeiten im Diesel-Skandal beigelegt.
Die Affäre um manipulierte Abgastests bei Dieselfahrzeugen hatte das Unternehmen in die schwerste Krise seiner Geschichte gestürzt. Unter anderem Ex-Konzernchef Martin Winterkorn musste seinen Platz räumen. Gegen ihn wird wie gegen den heutigen Aufsichtsratschef Hans Dieter Pötsch wegen des Verdachts ermittelt, sie könnten die Kapitalmärkte zu spät über das Ausmaß der Krise informiert haben.
Zudem werden die Rufe von Kunden und Verbraucherschützern nach finanziellen Entschädigungen auch in Europa immer lauter. In den USA musste VW den hinters Licht geführten Dieselkäufern Zahlungen von bis zu mehreren Tausend Dollar anbieten.
Den Posten von Hohmann-Dennhardt besetzt der VW-Konzern nun mit einer neuen Managerin: Hiltrud Werner, bisherige Leiterin der Volkswagen-Konzernrevision, soll das Ressort übernehmen. „Volkswagen wird weiter unverändert und mit Nachdruck den Wandel im Denken und Handeln vorantreiben“, hieß es vom Unternehmen.

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Australian Open: Federer stoppt "die Blutungen"

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January 26, 2017

Nach sechs Monaten Auszeit schafft es der Schweizer Tennisheld gleich ins Finale von Melbourne. Den Australiern verspricht er ein episches Endspiel.
Vor drei Monaten ist Roger Federer auf Mallorca gewesen, in Manacor, er unterstützte Rafael Nadal werblich bei der Eröffnung von dessen Akademie. Da hatten sie ein Gespräch über die Zukunft. Vielleicht könnten sie mal ein Charity-Match zusammen spielen oder was Ähnliches, sagten sie sich, größere Pläne hatten sie nicht, aus sehr spezifischen Gründen. «Ich war auf einem Bein, er hatte eine Handgelenksverletzung, und wir spielten mit Kindern Minitennis», erinnerte sich Federer an jenen milden Herbsttag im Oktober, als sie beide angeschlagen waren.
Er musste grinsen, denn jetzt stand er ja hier, in der Rod Laver Arena, und die Situation war «nicht real», wie er zugab: «Alles ging so schnell. Es fühlt sich großartig an, nur hätte ich nie in meinen wildesten Träumen gedacht, dass ich so weit komme. »
Federer, der 17-malige Grand-Slam-Gewinner, der eine sechsmonatige Auszeit zur Ausheilung seines lädierten Knies genommen hatte, hat nicht nur auf Anhieb das Finale beim ersten Grand-Slam-Turnier 2017 erreicht. Im Halbfinale hatte er sich in einer Partie mit zwei radikalen Wendungen gegen seinen Schweizer Freund Stan Wawrinka 7:5, 6:3, 1:6, 4:6, 6:3 durchgesetzt. Nun könnte Nadal der letzte Gegner werden, sollte der am Freitag gegen den Bulgaren Grigor Dimitrov gewinnen. Entweder trifft Federer auf einen Gegner, der «um seinen ersten Slam spielt, oder es wird die epische Schlacht mit Rafa». Die letzte Pointe sitzt in jedem Fall am Sonntag.
«Ein komisches Match», wie er fand, hatte ihm den Weg in sein sechstes Finale in Melbourne ermöglicht. Federer dominierte Wawrinka zwei Sätze lang, der 30-Jährige aus Lausanne nahm dann eine Behandlungspause und sicherte sich die folgenden beiden Sätze, in denen Federer wie noch nie in den vergangenen zwei Wochen Schwächen zeigte. «Es ist schwer, die Blutungen zu stoppen», so metaphorisch umschrieb der 35-Jährige aus Basel seine Versuche, den verloren gegangenen Rhythmus zu finden.
Normalerweise nimmt Federer nie eine Behandlungspause, und er versprach auch, er werde das nicht mehr machen — diesmal aber tat er es, vor dem Start des fünften Satzes. Die Leiste, deutete er an, habe seit dem zweiten Spiel Zeichen gesendet. Ein «billiges Break» habe ihm dann den entscheidenden Vorteil erbracht, «es war nicht so, dass ich es wirklich verdiente». Wenigstens servierte er das Match so souverän aus, wie er es bei den beeindruckenden Siegen gegen die Top-Ten-Spieler Tomas Berdych und Kei Nishikori getan hatte. «Entspann dich», hatte sich Federer, der sonst die personifizierte Entspannung ist, selbst souffliert.
Andy Roddick, die frühere Nummer eins aus den USA, hatte bereits geurteilt, ein finales Duell zwischen Federer und Nadal, dem 14-maligen Grand-Slam-Champion, könnte «vielleicht das größte Endspiel der Grand-Slam-Geschichte» werden. Der Spanier könnte, sollte er Dimitrov bezwingen und auch Federer, aufrücken zu seinem ewigen Widersacher in der Bestenliste. Federer könnte sich erlösen, denn den 18. Grand-Slam-Titel versucht er schon seit 2012 (Wimbledon) vergeblich zu verbuchen. Seine letzten drei Finals bei Grand Slams (zweimal in Wimbledon, einmal bei den US Open) verlor er.
Federer, der nach seiner Reha- und Aufbauphase das Viertelfinale als grobes Ziel für sich gesteckt hatte, versprach dem Publikum noch auf dem Platz: «Ich werde alles hier rauslassen in Australien. Falls ich in den nächsten fünf Monaten nicht mehr gehen kann, ist das okay. Ich gebe alles, was ich habe. «

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There’s much more at stake in Trump’s blowup with Mexico than a wall

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January 26, 2017

The abrupt cancellation of what was to have been Donald Trump’s second meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto puts at risk one the U. S.’s most important international relationships.
The immediate cause for the cancellation was Trump’s insistence that Mexico pay for a wall along the U. S. southern border. But a slide in U. S.-Mexico relations could affect far more than Trump’s promised barrier.
The U. S. and Mexico are partners in a variety of cross-border cooperative agreements, including a multibillion-dollar war to curb drug trafficking that at one time had U. S. intelligence officers working with Mexican authorities. Trump’s continued criticism of Mexico threatens to return U. S.-Mexico relations to the frosty state they were in the last century, when the relationship was so delicate that Nazi Germany made a play for an alliance with Mexico.
Jorge Guajardo, Mexico’s former ambassador to China, said the breach was specifically about payment for the wall. It’s not about Trump’s desire to renegotiate NAFTA, deport more people or even the wall itself. Mexicans can understand the reasoning, but Guarjardo said expecting Mexico to pay for the wall was insulting.
“It’s the stupidest idea ever,” Guarjardo said. “Everyone laughed about it. Now, all of sudden, that is what’s dictating policy and that’s what causing a rupture between countries who were friends. Will no one restore sanity to this process?”
Peña Nieto canceled next week’s visit to Washington following Trump’s executive order calling for the construction of a wall between the nations.
Trump, who said the decision was mutual, didn’t make things easier Thursday when he repeated once again that Mexico will pay for the controversial wall along the southwest border and accused the country of costing the United States $60 billion a year in trade deficits.
“Not to mention millions of jobs and thousands and thousands of factories and plants closing down all over our country,” Trump said.
It’s a much different relationship from the one past U. S. presidents have had with their Mexican counterparts. Mexican President Vicente Fox and President George W. Bush were friends from their days as governors of bordering states who shared a fondness for cowboy boots. President Barack Obama described his Mexican counterpart, President Felipe Calderon, as a friend and partner.
Mexico is arguably the most important bilateral relationship the United States has. It’s the third largest U. S. trading partner and a crucial ally in a wide range of security, migration and trade issues.
It’s also a relationship that has improved considerably over several decades. The two countries have collaborated on everything from drug trafficking to human trafficking.
NAFTA has had its flaws, but Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, said it also had led to a closer relationship between the countries.
The Obama administration, for example, tried to support the Mexican government with the 7-year-old Merida initiative, which provided, among other things, more than $2 billion to fight drug trafficking in the country. Peña Nieto also allowed for U. S. investment in Mexico’s oil industry, something that Mexican nationalists had opposed for decades.
Much of those improved relations could be put at risk, Shifter said.
“It’s an extremely serious situation. It’s unclear how bad it can get. But there is a real risk of it spiraling out of control,” Shifter said.
Talking with reporters Thursday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said one way to pay for the wall might be to impose a 20 percent tax on all imports from Mexico.
Trump’s dogged determination that Mexico pay for the wall – one way or another – has fueled resentment among the Mexican people and propped up leftist candidates looking to win the Mexican presidency next year on a wave of anti-American sentiment and a poor economy. Inflation is rising, fed in part by a 13 percent decline in the value of the peso against the dollar since Trump’s election.
The Mexican newspaper La Prensa published a front-page picture of Trump signing the order with large headline reading: “He did it!”
Seeing an opportunity, the leftist Mexican politician Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said last week that he would tour major U. S. cities starting in February.
“Enough of being passive,” Lopez Obrador, who’s the candidate of the Moreno party, said in a statement. “We should put a national emergency plan in place to face the damage and reverse the protectionist policies of Donald Trump.”
José Cárdenas, a former senior State Department official in the Bush administration, supports Trump’s effort to tackle illegal immigration and review NAFTA. But he questions the president’s tactics. Trump’s sharper edges could probably be smoothed, he said.
“What this is the rough and tumble world of New York real estate meets statecraft,” Cárdenas said.
Cárdenas likens Lopez Obrador to the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. The threat is that Lopez Obrador takes power and returns policies to when the two countries didn’t work together to address mutual problems like drug trafficking, migration and counterterrorism threats, Cárdenas said.
The risk goes far beyond shattering NAFTA, extending to migration security cooperation; Mexico intercepts thousands of Central Americans every year, preventing them from reaching the United States.
Cárdenas said the irony was that if economic conditions continued to worsen in Mexico it could lead to even more immigrants crossing the border in search of economic opportunities.
“The irony is that if you keep pushing Mexico you’re going to get the problem that you want to solve exacerbated, exponentially,” he said.
Anita Kumar contributed to this report.

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Sentiment rank: 0.6

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Former Atlanta employee accused of threatening E. R. Mitchell

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January 26, 2017

Posted: Jan 26 2017 06:50PM EST
Updated: Jan 26 2017 07:36PM EST
Mayor Kasim Reed says he is «very sad» about E. R. Mitchell’s guilty plea in federal court yesterday. E. R. Mitchell, is a long time, well known businessman and campaign contributor of Mayor Reed. Yesterday, Mitchell pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and money laundering. Charging documents say Mitchell gave an unidentified person more than a million dollars between 2010 to 2015 to secure city construction contracts. Mitchell expected that person to spread the money around city hall.
Atlanta — Mayor Kasim Reed says he is «very sad» about E. R. Mitchell’s guilty plea in federal court yesterday.
E. R. Mitchell, is a long time, well known businessman and campaign contributor of Mayor Reed. Yesterday, Mitchell pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and money laundering. Charging documents say Mitchell gave an unidentified person more than a million dollars between 2010 to 2015 to secure city construction contracts. Mitchell expected that person to spread the money around city hall. Mitchell’s attorney, Craig Gillen, told reporters Mitchell had been and would continue to cooperate with the FBI.
That cooperation may have led to a bizarre twist in the case. During the FBI investigation someone left dead rats on Mitchell’s doorstep and threw this cinder block through the window warning Mitchell to keep his mouth shut.
FOX 5 I-Team has reviewed court records that show 14 months after the threat, police arrested Shandarrick Barnes and charged him with criminal damage to property. According to a city brochure, Barnes was an Atlanta city employee in 2014.
» I don’t know this gentleman,» said Reed. «But we have 8000 employees and if any one of them engage in bad behavior the justice system is going to handle that. »
Barnes was on probation for a DeKalb 2010 racketeering conviction at the time, according to court records.
The warrant for the alleged threat shows Barnes «did cooperate with agents and confessed to the crime. »
Who is Shandarrick Barnes? Before working at the city, he was one of the original members of a company called The Bickers Group. Mitzi Bickers, is a long time Atlanta political power player. She is a former School board member, church pastor, and now political consultant who helped Kasim Reed get elected to his first term.
After that election the Mayor hired her to run Human Services at city hall.
We found she also has long, deep ties to the man who pleaded guilty to paying a million dollars in bribes.
In 2004, Bickers filed bankruptcy but during the proceedings, E. R. Mitchell hired her and paid her enough bonuses to allow her to dismiss her bankruptcy. According to a state document, she went on to be Mitchell’s VP of Operations.
Neither US Attorney John Horn nor the FBI have identified who ER Mitchell gave the million dollars to. Mayor Reed said there is no telling.
«Like any organization we have challenges,» says Mayor Reed. «This is serious challenge, and we’re treating it as a serious challenge. «

Sentiment rank: -8.6

Leaked video likely to hurt ‘A Dog’s Purpose’ at box office

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January 26, 2017

Joe Lederer / Universal Studios via AP
This image shows John Ortiz in a scene from “A Dog’s Purpose.”
Associated Press
Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017 | 6:27 p.m.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Marketers would describe «A Dog’s Purpose» as a film with «four-quadrant» appeal, meaning it’s likely to draw moviegoers of both genders, young and old. Based on a bestselling book and told from a dog’s perspective, it’s a feel-good story for animal lovers of all kinds.
Which is why a video leaked last week of a frightened dog apparently forced into rushing water during the making of the film is so damaging to its opening box-office prospects this weekend: It alienates, even offends, its very audience.
«Sometimes a controversy can help you, but this isn’t one of those cases,» said Gitesh Pandya, editor of boxofficeguru.com. «As far as videos that can come out for your film, this is definitely not the one you want if you’re the filmmakers, right before the movie opens. »
Since the video surfaced Jan. 18 on TMZ.com and quickly went viral, fallout has been extensive, including:
• People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has called for a boycott of «A Dog’s Purpose. »
• Producer Amblin Entertainment and distributor Universal Pictures went into full damage control, complete with a «war room,» canceling a planned press day and starry premiere, but sticking to its plan to open the PG-rated film in more than 3,000 North American theaters on Friday.
• American Humane, the watchdog organization that certifies that «no animals were harmed» during TV and movie productions, suspended an employee and launched a third-party investigation into the incident.
• «A Dog’s Purpose» star Dennis Quaid went on TV’s «Entertainment Tonight» calling the leaked video «a scam. »
• Actor Josh Gad, who lends his voice to a dog in the film, issued a statement on Twitter saying he has asked the studio and production team for an explanation of what he calls «disturbing images. »
• And Gavin Polone, a producer of the film, wrote an editorial in the Hollywood Reporter attacking American Humane and asserting his lifelong love of animals.
«No matter how the film performs this weekend, there is virtually no way to accurately quantify how the ultimate gross receipts for the film may have been impacted by the negative publicity,» said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker comScore. «Social media chatter has been very strong for this film and so it’s definitely on the radar for more people who might not have otherwise been aware of the movie. »
No one has disputed the authenticity of the leaked video. Quaid, Polone, «A Dog’s Purpose» author W. Bruce Cameron and American Humane, however, have all said that it is misleading. The minute-long clip shows a trainer trying to put a resistant German shepherd named Hercules into a turbulent pool and the dog scrambling out. A subsequent scene shows the dog becoming submerged in the water for several seconds as trainers shout, «Stop! » TMZ says the footage was recorded in November of 2015.
Mark Stubis of American Humane said its investigation should be completed by Friday, but that preliminary findings indicate that the two scenes in the clip were shot at different times and edited together. Stubis said production was stopped after the dog showed signs of stress on the day in question and that Hercules «was not forced to swim in the water during this take. »
Amblin officials have been reviewing dailies and other images taken on set since the video surfaced to determine what actually happened. On Wednesday, the studio shared with reporters more than 10 minutes of raw footage that shows Hercules eagerly jumping into the water from the front and left of the pool, but resisting when the trainer wants him to enter from the right side. It also shows trainers and crew surrounding the pool and platforms just beneath the water’s surface for the stunt dog to stand on.
The studio had no comment beyond sharing the footage Wednesday. Last week, Amblin and Universal released a joint statement when canceling the press day and premiere that read in part, «While we are all disheartened by the appearance of an animal in distress, everyone has assured us that Hercules the German Shepherd was not harmed throughout the filmmaking. »
Polone, who describes himself as a vegan whose closest relationships are with animals, says the actions in the video are «inexcusable and never should have happened,» and blames the American Humane representative on set for not intervening immediately.
Even without the controversy, «A Dog’s Purpose» wasn’t born to be a blockbuster, Pandya said. Original industry estimates had put the film’s opening weekend in the mid-$20 millions domestically.
«January is typically not one of your high-profile times to release the big films,» Pandya said. «This is not a big franchise that needed a huge opening. »
But ironically, the film could still end up No. 1 at the weekend box office.
«Public attitude may be shifting to sympathy for the filmmakers and also producer Gavin Pallone’s strong pro-animal statement,» said comScore’s Dergarabedian. «There may be a lot of people who may have not had the movie on their radar but may now be compelled to support the film by coming out to see it.
«This could wind up being a win for the film since at this point, ‘A Dog’s Purpose’ is now being viewed as the underdog. «

Sentiment rank: -1.1

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London macht Tempo

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January 26, 2017

London. Nach ihrer Niederlage vor Gericht will die britische Regierung jede Verzögerung ihres Zeitplans für den EU-Austritt verhindern. Während sich Premierministerin Theresa May auf dem Weg zu ihrem ersten Besuch beim neuen US-Präsidenten, Donald Trump, befand, brachte Brexit-Minister David Davis am Donnerstag den Gesetzesentwurf ein, der dem Parlament die vom Höchstgericht vorgeschriebene Mitsprache einräumt. Darin heißt es: „Die Premierministerin darf unter Bezugnahme auf Artikel 50 des EU-Vertrags die Absicht Großbritanniens zum Austritt aus der EU zur Kenntnis bringen.“
Danach sollen die Abgeordneten beider Häuser des Parlaments nicht mehr als zwei Wochen bekommen, um grünes Licht für die schwerwiegendste Entscheidung der neueren Geschichte Großbritanniens zu geben. Das von May versprochene Weißbuch mit Details zu ihren Verhandlungspositionen und –zielen wird daran nichts ändern. Davis versprach nur, das Dokument „so rasch wie möglich“ vorlegen zu wollen, betonte aber zugleich, das Gesetz und das Weißbuch seien „geringfügig unterschiedliche Angelegenheiten“.
Die Absicht der Regierung, die Abgeordneten über ein Gesetz abstimmen zu lassen, ohne dessen Ziele darzulegen, sorgte bei der Opposition für Empörung. Dennoch hat Labour bereits angekündigt, für das Gesetz zu stimmen, da man dem Ergebnis der Volksabstimmung vom Juni Rechnung tragen müsse.
Die Mehrheit für das Gesetz ist damit sicher. Dennoch werden Abgeordnete in den kommenden Tagen mit Änderungsanträgen versuchen, Einfluss auf die Position der Regierung zu nehmen. Mehr als Scheinzugeständnisse sind aber unwahrscheinlich. (gar)
(«Die Presse», Print-Ausgabe, 27.01.2017)

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Łowili ryby na krze, załamał się pod nimi lód. Jedna osoba nie żyje

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January 26, 2017

Po południu straż pożarna otrzymała zgłoszenie o trzech osobach znajdujących się na krze na środku stawu w miejscowości Karw. Jako pierwszą wydobyliśmy z wody kobietę w wieku 41 lat, u której nie stwierdzono oznak życia. Do momentu przyjazdu zespołu ratownictwa medycznego trwała reanimacja. Przewieziono ją do szpitala w Koszalinie — powiedział rzecznik Komendy Wojewódzkiej Państwowej Straży Pożarnej Tomasz Kubiak.
Jak poinformował PAP rzecznik Szpitala Wojewódzkiego w Koszalinie Cezary Sołowij, kobieta znajduje się na oddziale intensywnej terapii. Jej stan jest określany jako ciężki. Strażacy wyciągnęli również z wody przytomnego, ale bardzo wyziębionego 48-letniego mężczyznę.
Drugiego mężczyznę w wieku 68 lat przez blisko 3 godziny poszukiwali strażacy oraz grupy nurkowe z Koszalina i Szczecina , które przyjechały na miejscu wypadku. Jak podkreślał Kubiak, akcja ratownicza była bardzo trudna, pod ratownikami i ich saniami łamał się lód.
Według relacji świadków mężczyźni i kobieta prawdopodobnie łowili ryby — wskazują na to pozostawione przy przeręblach wędki. Obecnie mamy dodatnie temperatury i lód jest bardzo kruchy. Brak wyobraźni tych osób doprowadził do tragedii — ocenił Tomasz Kubiak.

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Trump issues ultimatum to Mexican leader

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January 26, 2017

As US President Barack Obama prepares to leave office on January 20, here are 10 things his presidency may be remembered for.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. (Marco Ugarte, AP)
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Washington — US President Donald Trump on Thursday told Mexico’s president to cancel an upcoming visit to Washington if he is unwilling to foot the bill for a border wall.
Escalating a cross border war of words, Trump took to Twitter to publicly upbraid Enrique Pena Nieto.
«If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting. »
Talks have been scheduled to take place at the White House next week.
On Wednesday, the mercurial US leader ordered officials to begin to «plan, design and construct a physical wall» along the 3 200km US-Mexico border.
Stemming immigration was a central plank of Trump’s election campaign, although there are still serious doubts about how the project will be funded.
Trump’s decision put Pena Nieto under fierce domestic pressure to hit back, and hit back he did in a video message to the nation late Wednesday.
Hardball approach
«I regret and condemn the decision of the United States to continue construction of a wall that, for years, has divided us instead of uniting us,» Pena Nieto said.
«I have said it time and again: Mexico will not pay for any wall,» he added.
By Thursday morning, Trump’ had issued his bareknuckle public response, which may shock diplomats but is in keeping with the mogul’s hardball approach to negotiations.
Trump also took to Twitter to gripe about the trade gap between Mexico and the United States.
«The US has a 60 billion dollar trade deficit with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers of jobs and companies lost,» he said.
Trump has said he will seek to renegotiate the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement.
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