The secret to health and long life: It’s in your genes – Rutland Herald

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Lola Aiken, wife of the late Gov. George Aiken, is accompanied by then-Gov. Peter Shumlin as she waves to supporters during her 100th birthday celebration in June 2012. Aiken would live to age 102. STEFAN HARD / STAFF FILE PHOTO

Will it soon be possible for most of us to live to be 100?

Yes, experts told The Palm Beach Post last week, and genomic medicine will play a crucial role.

What is genomic medicine?

Its an emerging medical discipline that uses a persons gene map to make diagnostic decisions.

Its also the foundation for what former President Obama announced in his 2015 State of the Union address: the Precision Medicine Initiative.

Over the weekend, Dr. Georgia Dunston, founding director of the National Human Genome Center at Howard University and one of the nations leading genome experts, were in Palm Beach County. She spoke at different events connected to the West Palm Beach Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. Founders Day Weekend.

The theme of the Friday Sunday gathering was Genomics: African ancestry and culture spirit, soul and body.

As Dunston explained of her work with the groundbreaking International Human Genome Project, The genome is the complete set of instructions for building and operating the human body. In 2003, scientists completed the sequence of the human genome, which shows the location of each of the 20,500 genes in the complete map of the human genome.

In lay terms, this means that we all have a vast, unique genetic map that doctors and researchers can now use to customize our health- related decisions.

Which medications work best with which genes.

Which gene sequences are more likely to develop which diseases.

Which environmental and lifestyle factors are most likely to affect given gene sequences.

Genomics is helping researchers discover why some people get sick from certain infections, environmental factors, and behaviors, while others do not. Because genes are inherited and shared among relatives, genomics is also helping researchers discover why certain diseases occur in some families and not others, and are more common in some ethnic groups and natural populations than others, said Dunston.

One of the events organizers, Dr. Eugenia Millender, president of the West Palm Beach Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, also has firsthand knowledge of the importance of genomics especially in African-American and other minority populations, as shes the director of the Florida Atlantic University Community Health Center, where genetic testing is available.

A psychiatric nurse practitioner and assistant professor at Florida Atlantic Universitys Lynn College of Nursing, Millender said, This is the most innovative development in the way we approach health care. We have to educate as many people as possible about the availability of this kind of testing.

She further explained that everything from our mental health to our pain threshold is dictated by our genomic map.

At Friday evenings free town hall meeting, the genetic testing company GeneSight was on hand to provide attendees information on how affordable the testing can be.

Millender noted that for those on Medicaid, GeneSight is offering the testing for free, and for those on insurance plans, the cost can be just a few hundred dollars, depending on their income.

Marian Stubbs, chairwoman for the 2017 Delta Sigma Theta Founders Day Weekend, cant wait for others to hear Dunston explain the potentially transformative benefits of genomic medicine.

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The secret to health and long life: It's in your genes - Rutland Herald

In-depth gene search reveals new mutations, drug targets in rare adrenal tumors – Medical Xpress

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February 13, 2017 Four sub-types of pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma. Credit: Penn Medicine

Casting one of the largest genomic nets to date for the rare tumors of the autonomic nervous system known as pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PCC/PGL) captured several new mutations driving the disease that could serve as potential drug targets, researchers from Penn Medicine and other institutions reported this week in Cancer Cell.

Analyzing genetic data of 173 patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas, researchers, including senior author Katherine Nathanson, MD, a professor in the division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and associate director for Population Science at Penn's Abramson Cancer Center, identified CSDE1 and fusion genes in MAML3 as drivers of the disease, both a first for any cancer type. The researchers also classified PCC/PGL into four distinct subtypes, each driven by mutations in distinct biological pathways, two of which are novel.

"What's interesting about these tumors is that while they are astonishingly diverse genetically, with both inherited and somatic drivers influencing tumorigenesis, each has a single driver mutation, not multiple mutations," Nathanson said. "This characteristic makes these tumors ideal candidates for targeted therapy." Other cancer types typically contain anywhere from two to eight of these driver mutations.

The discovery of these single drivers in PCC/PGL provides more opportunities for molecular diagnosis and prognosis in these patients, particularly those with more aggressive cancers, the authors said.

PGLs are rare tumors of nerve ganglia in the body, whereas PCCs form in the center of the adrenal gland, which is responsible for producing adrenaline. The tumor causes the glands to overproduce adrenaline, leading to elevated blood pressure, severe headaches, and heart palpitations. Both are found in about two out of every million people each year. An even smaller percentage of those tumors become malignant - and become very aggressive. For that group, the five-year survival rate is about 50 percent.

Matthew D. Wilkerson, MD, the Bioinformatics Director at the Collaborative Health Initiative Research Program at the Uniformed Services University, is the paper's co-senior author.

To identify and characterize the genetic missteps, researchers analyzed tumor specimens using whole-exome sequencing, mRNA and microRNA sequencing, DNA-methylation arrays, and reverse-phase protein arrays. The four molecularly defined subgroups included: a kinase-signaling subtype, a pseudohypoxia subtype, a cortical admixture subtype, and a Wnt-altered subtype. The last two have been newly classified.

The results also provided clinically actionable information by confirming and identifying several molecular markers associated with an increased risk of aggressive and metastatic disease, including germline mutations in SDBH, somatic mutations in ATRX (previously established in a Penn Medicine study), and new gene fusions - a genetic hybrid, of sorts - in MAML3.

Because the MAML3 fusion gene activates the Wnt-altered subtype, the authors said, existing targeted therapies that inhibit the beta-catenin and STAT3 pathways may also prove effective in certain PCC/PGL tumors.

Other mutations identified in the analysis may also serve as potential targets for drugs currently being investigated in other cancers. For example, glutaminase inhibitors are being tested in SDH-mutant tumors, including breast and lung, and ATR inhibitors are being investigated in blood cancers. Today, there are several U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved targeted therapies for mutations, such as BRAF and FGFR1, among others, also found in PCC/PGL.

"The study gives us the most comprehensive understanding of this disease to date - which we believe will help researchers design better trials and target mutations that will ultimately help improve treatment for these patients," Nathanson said. "The next step is to focus more on aggressive cancers that metastasize and the drivers behind those tumors."

Explore further: Mutated ATRX gene linked to brain tumors potential biomarker for rare adrenal tumors too

More information: Lauren Fishbein et al, Comprehensive Molecular Characterization of Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma, Cancer Cell (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2017.01.001

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Biohacker crackdown? Germany threatens gene-editing hobbyists with fines, jail – Genetic Literacy Project

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The German governmentis none too pleased with [how easily people can conduct gene editing experiments outside of labs thanks to advances in science][Its] consumer protection office [recently]issued a statement: Any science enthusiast doing genetic engineering outside of a licensed facility, it wrote, might face a fine of 50,000 or up to three years in prison.

The statement sent a wave of shock through the DIY bio community.

The law behind the German DIY bio crackdown isnt new. The government was simply reminding so-called biohackers of a long-existing law that forbids genetic engineering experiments outside of laboratories supervised and licensed by the state.

Im pretty sure that laws will prohibit me from continuing my research at a later state, said Bruno Lederer, a German biohacker who hopes that loopholes in the law will allow his work to continue for now. I think its a shame that Id have to do illegal things in order to do independent research.

Community biology labsshouldnt have an issue getting licensed. But not every DIY scientist lives near or has the resources to join a community lab. If the DIY bio movement is about making science accessible to those outside the Ivory Tower of academia, the German governments statement represents a serious roadblock.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post:Germany Is Threatening Biohackers With Prison

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The Futurist: Content publishing the new marketing – Marketing Interactive

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The internet has profoundly changed the way we live, work and play. People are more connected than ever thanks to smartphones, tablets and laptops. These digital devices provide mobility and convenience, and as a result the nature of content consumption has changed.

Studies have shown the average attention span is a mere eight seconds even shorter than goldfish. The proliferation of devices and platforms has also fragmented the playing field for marketeers. Brands are being challenged to connect with their customers through all these devices, on demand, in real-time and seamlessly. Yet many brands have responded by using spray and pray advertising, which results in the incoherent clutter we see today.

It is now harder for marketers to cut through the distraction and make any lasting impact on consumers. Consumers have a low tolerance for these blasts of information. Faced with an onslaught of competing messages, consumers have become more selective of the content they choose to engage with. They are also more sceptical of branded messaging and celebrity endorsements, instead choosing to believe people like you and me ordinary people who they can relate to and see as peers.

Consumers today are yearning for unique and meaningful experiences with brands. A recent study by Havas found that brands that created meaning for their customers were rewarded with loyalty and increased sales. However, creating meaningful and lasting relationships with customers is synonymous with marketing, and is nothing new. In this digital age, the why of marketing and brand strategy remains unchanged, while the how needs to be overhauled to ensure brands continue to be relevant.

With this new reality in mind, many brands have turned to content marketing to better connect with their audiences.

A paradigm shift

In the past, Shell was perceived as functional and premium, but also distant and cold. To shake off this perception, in 2015 the brand embarked on a three-year transformational programme Welcome to Shell to humanise the brand and redefi ne its purpose.

We found that culturally relevant, human interest stories that inspire, inform or entertain seemed to gain traction among Malaysians. The brand softened its marketing strategy by moving away from product-centric messaging to purpose-led, audience-driven content. We manifested our brand purpose in all content that we published.

In summary

The digital disruption has changed the way we marketeers must respond to consumers, and increasingly brands are moving towards becoming content publishers. In Shells case, we developed audience-first content to help us deliver value and emotional engagement to our customers.

Our primary objective was to attract attention and gain trust, which then allowed us to re-target those customers who had engaged with our content to other aspects of the brand.

However, there is no one-size-fi ts-all approach, and brands will need to fi nd out what strategies work best for them by testing and learning. The good news is there is a wealth of digital tools to help brands understand their audience better, and develop better quality content that suits them. Marketeers can also easily conduct pilot studies on digital platforms to test concepts and tweak campaigns before they go live on a bigger scale.

The key is not about creating a large amount of content, but creating quality content that will create a maximum impact with target audiences, so they keep coming back for more.

The author of this article is Ben Mahmud, head of retail marketing, Shell Malaysia

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The Next Blue Collar Job? Coding – Futurism

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The Evolution of the Workforce

It almost shouldnt come as a surprise. In an age defined by advancements in the tech industry, it was only a matter of time before the traditional paradigms set by the industrial revolution had to change.

The sophistication of todays technology means factories are turning to computers instead of human employees to get the job done. According to a joint study conducted by Oxford University and the Oxford Martin School, [] 47 percent of jobs in the US are at risk of being automated in the next 20 years. ABall State University studyconcluded that almost nine out of 10 jobs have been lost to automation since 2000, and a factory in China just saw a 250 percent increase in production after replacing 90 percent of its workforce with automated systems.

However, as demand for physical labor goes down, other opportunities are arising, and according to Clive Thompson of Wired, the next big blue-collar job will be coding.

The information technology industry is expected to grow faster than almost any other, with some predicting a 12 percent growth between 2014 to 2024. The problem lies in the fact that coding will require a different technical skill setthan much of todays blue collar work. But thankfully, many employers are responding to the needs of the evolving job market by attempting to make code learning more accessible.

Silicon Valley giants like Google have initiatives designed to engage and teach anyone interested in programming. Schools are working tointroduce codingas early as high school, while various other institutions are offering intensive code-learning programs. This level of education and exposure to coding wont necessarily give these future coders the knowledge to create complex AI algorithms, but it would be enough to qualify them for a well-paying, reliable job in the IT department.

It should also be notedthat coding opportunities reach far beyond the tech industry. Silicon Valley employs only eight percent of the coders in the U.S., andaccording to one study, half of all programming openings are in industries outside of technology, such asfinance, manufacturing, and healthcare. Theres also the draw of compensation. The national average salary for IT jobs is double the national average for all jobs: $81,000 annually.

Its now a matter of demystifying coding as a profession that only gifted computer prodigies are capable of learning. As Thompson points out in his article, several of the skills needed to be successful at blue collar occupations like coal mining intense focus, an ability to function within a team, a level of comfort working with engineering tech, etc. could easily translate into coding. Once people realize that it is a highly specialized skill but one that they can learn to do well, coding has the potential to open more doors to employment in the age of automation.

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House Freedom Caucus seeks swift Obamacare repeal – CNN

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Story highlights

"There's no reason we shouldn't be able to pass this ASAP -- there's also no reason we should send anything less to President Trump's desk than we did Obama's," one GOP source familiar with the vote told CNN. "No need to reinvent the wheel."

The vote by Freedom Caucus members Monday night, confirmed to CNN by an aide, to press ahead on the repeal plan crystalized the frustration building up among conservative lawmakers unhappy with the delay in repealing Obamacare.

The development also sets up a potential political clash between the conservative wing of the party and its more moderate members, who are wary of the backlash that could come from swift and wholesale repeal of the health care law.

Since President Donald Trump's inauguration, many congressional Republicans have asked party leaders to slow down the repeal efforts to ensure that a consensus is reached on an Obamacare alternative.

Republicans have previously used the budget reconciliation process to repeal major portions of Obamacare (in 2015, it was vetoed by President Barack Obama).

Conservative House Republicans have become more vocal in recent days in pressing GOP leaders to move that same 2015 repeal bill rather than taking more time to craft a new version.

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Outgoing ambassador sees major strides in religious freedom – Crux: Covering all things Catholic

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WASHINGTON, D.C. The U.S. has made significant strides in promoting religious freedom abroad in the last two years, says the outgoing U.S. religious freedom ambassador.

One success of his tenure at the State Department was the work that were quietly doing day in and day out on behalf of prisoners of conscience, the former Ambassador at-Large for International Religious Freedom Rabbi David Saperstein insisted at a panel discussion on religious freedom, held Thursday in Washington, D.C., hosted by the Religion News Foundation.

These prisoners of conscience might be religious leaders, political dissidents or human rights activists jailed because of their public beliefs and advocacy. The State Department helps obtain security or legal support for these people, or helps them leave their country, Saperstein said.

Their lawyers and defendants have credited the United States advocacy with the release of their clients from prison, he noted.

Rabbi Saperstein, who led the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism before his time at State, was confirmed by the Senate as the State Departments Ambassador at-Large for International Religious Freedom in December of 2014, filling a 14 month-long vacancy in the position.

The ambassador is charged with promoting religious freedom as part of U.S. foreign policy, reporting on human rights abuses, and holding foreign actors accountable for how they treat religious minorities.

The office was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, which also mandated the State Department publish an annual global report on religious freedom.

In March of 2016, during Rabbi Sapersteins tenure as ambassador, Secretary of State John Kerry declared that the Islamic State also known as Daesh, ISIS, and ISIL was committing genocide against Christians, Yazidis, and Shia Muslims in Iraq and Syria.

The genocide declaration was hailed as a key act in the resettlement of the persecuted minorities in the region, one that could help them obtain needed humanitarian aid, priority resettlement status, and a safe return home if they chose to do so. It came almost two years after ISIS swept across Northern Iraq, killing and displacing hundreds of thousands of ethnic and religious minorities that inhabited the region.

Advocates had insisted for months that the U.S. declare genocide had taken place. According to reports, the agency originally planned to declare that only Yazidis in Northern Iraq were genocide victims, based off of a Holocaust Museum fact-finding mission in the region that focused only on atrocities committed on the Nineveh Plain during the summer of 2014.

However, after a request by Ambassador Saperstein, the Knights of Columbus and the advocacy group In Defense of Christians published an almost 300-page report from a fact-finding mission to Iraq, documenting atrocities committed by ISIS against Christians and other minorities, and featuring interviews with genocide survivors and legal documents,Secretary Kerry issued the genocide declaration. In an interview with CNA, Saperstein revealed that the declaration came about at Kerrys insistence.

That genocide finding took place because the Secretary wanted it, Saperstein said. He demanded far more information than had been available when he began this process, when there clearly wasnt enough information available to make a finding.

Saperstein noted that the situation in Iraq and Syria differed from previous instances where the U.S. declared genocide, like in Darfur, Rwanda, Cambodia, and Bosnia.

Here, most people fled before ISIL came in and the ones left under ISIL control were not available to people. Just now in Mosul, were just learning about the extent of the brutality of what was going on under ISILs control, he explained. So we didnt have the same information available.

Former Secretary Kerry really deserves the credit for this finding, he continued, noting that the U.S. had already been acting as if there was such a finding by intervening to send supplies to Yazidis cut off from food and water on Mt. Sinjar in August of 2014, and establishing a military coalition to counter the Islamic State.

The global state of religious freedom is still dire, he insisted, noting that three-fourths of the worlds population still lives in countries like China, India, and Pakistan where freedom of religion is significantly restricted.

In these countries religious communities, particularly religious minorities, still face significant threats from social hostilities, from other religious groups, or repressive actions of the government in controlling what they can say or how they can worship or what they can do as part of their religious communities, he said, giving examples of anti-blasphemy laws, onerous registration requirements for minority religions, and laws prohibiting conversion.

An increase in its budget and staff has boosted the offices efforts, Saperstein noted. In his two years as ambassador, he said the offices budget doubled, its programmatic money quintupled, and its staff doubled in size.

The Office on Religion and Global Affairs also has done key work in studying the role of religion in all areas of life from public policy to economics to conflict resolution, he said.

You ended up with a situation at the end of this administration where there were some 50 people working day in and day out on nothing other than religious issues in the United States government, he said. Its probably more dedicated staff just to that issue than all the governments of the world put together on international religious freedom.

Thats quite a vote of confidence as to the importance of religious issues in the United States, he added, noting that across the globemany of the cardinals and bishops that I met with were very encouraged by this.

And the State Department has crafted an international coalition to help genocide victims resettle in their homes, stay where they currently are like in Iraqi Kurdistan, or move elsewhere, he said. The UN is playing a key role in achieving that with significant American support.

The coalition is dealing with issues like security measures for genocide victims to live peacefully, economic development in the region, empowering them to have a role in rebuilding Iraq, preserving their cultures, and punishing the perpetrators of genocide.

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Outgoing ambassador sees major strides in religious freedom - Crux: Covering all things Catholic

ACLU’s Religious Freedom Suit Against Trump Order: Gerrymandered to Target Muslims – Religion Dispatches

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Attorneys representing the administration ofPresident Donald Trump already have their hands fullespecially after the Ninth Circuit on Thursday unanimously rejectedthe Justice Departments request to reinstate the Muslim Ban. But that isnt the only legal challenge looming for DOJ attorneys tasked with defending the presidents sweeping order.

The American Civil Liberties Unionon Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit contending that the presidents executive order violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the First Amendments prohibition of a government establishment of religion.RDspoke with ACLU senior staff attorney Heather Weaver to better understandwhat makes this lawsuit different from the others already challenging the policy.

Weaver says the executive orders targeting of Muslims is so blatant that its nearly unprecedented. While the textneitherincludes Trumps pet phrase, radical Islamic terrorism, northe words Islam or Muslim, it doesnt have to. The administration constructed the terms of the executive order to disproportionately impact Muslim immigrants and refugees, Weaver explains.

The executive order is religiously gerrymandered to target Muslims, shesays. It most directly harms Muslim-Americans who were born or have family in any of the seven nations from which U.S. entry is now prohibited under the presidents order. Most of theindividual plaintiffs fall into this category, while others are naturalized American citizens or permanent residents who had permission to travel or approved family visas from one of the seven countries targeted. The actual harm facing these plaintiffs is particularly acute,the ACLUs suit contends.

In policy and practice,the executive order essentially conditions immigration decisions and benefits on an immigrants faith, Weaver explains.Its limiting [rights available to Muslim Americans and immigrants]because of their faith, and we would say that that is a burden on their faith, she says. Because essentially what it boils down to is: its pressuring them to abandon their faith so that they may obtain the benefits that theyre seeking.

Whether its refugee status, or a green card, or some sort of other adjustment to their status, the order limits the relief an individual or family can access based on their religion, Weaver says. Thats what the burden is here, and of course under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, if youre going to impose that type of burden on somebodys religious exercise, you have to have a compelling reason to do it, and it has to bethe least restrictive means. Thats a very high standard for the government to meet, as weve seen in some cases. And I think the government hasnt met that standard here, and I dont think they can meet that standard.

The ACLUs complaint methodically documents the historical context leading up to the orders implementation, including the numerous times then-candidate Trump stated his desireto ban Muslims from entering the U.S., and his recent on-camera admission that the order was intended to privilege Christians.

The federal government is essentially sending a message, not only that Islam and Muslims are disfavored, but its suggesting that theyre evil, or wish to do others harm, says Weaver.So whatever the message that the executive order conveys is, that is informed by everything that has led up to that executive order.

But thats not the only religious freedom complaint advanced in the suit, filed February 7th in U.S. District Courtof Maryland. Among the plaintiffs aretwo faith-based organizations that work to resettle and supportrefugees, allowing these plaintiffs toclaim a unique injury: that the order substantially burdens the free religious exercise of these U.S.-based nonprofits, which consider the work they do an extension of their sincerely held religious beliefs. The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) and Jewish international refugee resettlement organization (HIAS) both contend that the executive order prevents them from living out their faith on several frontsa pointed, if indirect, rebuke to the administrations purported advocacy of religious freedom for all.

The order betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the concept of religious freedom as it functions in American society, Weaver says. She points to the multilayered irony that during the campaign Vice President Mike Pence condemned Trumps proposed ban on Muslims, and has his own reputation of using religious freedomas an excusefor state-sanctioned anti-LGBT discrimination.

According tothe ACLU, religious freedom does not include the ability to harm others, says Weaver.And thats an important line to draw in this sand, and I think that thats a boundary thats been missing from Vice President Pences understanding of religious liberty. Its religious freedom for me but not for thee.'

Weaver says this fundamentalmisunderstanding appears to begenuine, but that doesnt absolve the nations most powerful politicians from being held responsible for the harm done by this limited perspective.

When thats your understanding of religious freedom, you dont necessarily see it as hypocritical to be voted into office on that platform, and then one of your first acts is to target a religious minority, says Weaver. It is hypocriticalbut I dont that they think its hypocritical, to be clear.

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Chief editors: Media not a channel for personal freedom of speech – YLE News

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Commercial broadcaster MTV's Chief Editor Merja Yl-Anttila Image: Jyrki Valkama / Yle

The representative organisation of editors-in-chief in Finland, PTY, published a statement on Tuesday in response to public discourse that started in November about the responsibilities of a chief editors and their position in terms of freedom of speech.

PTY says in the statement that chief editors employ freedom of speech in their respective media, while journalists use their employers freedom of speech in their work. They are not entitled, however, to use the media channel for personal freedom of speech, the group says.

"I think its good to shed some light on certain gaps in the current discussion. Not everyone has an idea about what kinds of tasks a chief editor is charged with and which of these is linked to laws about freedom of expression," said Merja Yl-Anttila, first deputy of PTY and chief editor for the commercial news broadcaster MTV.

PTY maintains that decisions that a chief editor makes about news items do not limit journalists freedom of speech. Journalist employees publishing whatever they like under the name of the media company they are employed for is a different matter, however.

Yl-Anttila said the PTY statement is not intended to take a stand on any individual cases, and there's no specific reason the missive is being released just now.

"It is not aimed against or in defence of anyone," she said.

Chief editors want to remind people that they are responsible for the content their media channels produce, and this task cannot be relinquished to anyone outside the editorial team.

The PTY says editors-in-chief must also ensure that their units have conditions that are conducive to work by fighting off both external and internal pressure.

"When the report concerns a big, influential topic in terms of general society, there are many interested parties that might try to influence things, from various quarters. At this point, the chief editor is the last sea wall that provides wind protection for the staff to work in peace on difficult high-stress stories," says Yl-Anttila.

PTY points out that even the chief editors' employers cannot interfere in their work in any other way than by appointing or removing them from the post.

The organisation said that a responsible editor-in-chief encourages an open atmosphere in the newsroom, one in which criticism about the journalistic decisions of the management is permitted to be aired.

"The media team should be able to talk about these things. Trust is very important," says the MTV chief editor.

PTY calls on editors everywhere to be more transparent. Audiences should be better informed about how decision-making in news making works, and under what grounds the media produces the content that it does.

Opening the processes up will also help the audience to distinguish reliable news sources from fake news and other traffickers in 'alternative facts'.

"This is the kind of thing that should make all news teams take a hard look in the mirror. It would also enhance the credibility and reliability of what we do. Consider this a kind of friendly push in that direction," says Yl-Anttila.

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Evangelicals: Religious Freedom and Refugees Top Priorities for This Year – CBN News

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A survey of evangelical leaders showed the most important public policy issues that evangelicals should focus on in 2017 are religious freedom and immigration/refugees.

The findings are from the year-end Evangelical Leaders Survey, a monthly poll of the board of directors of the National Association of Evangelicals.

"If the first weeks under the new administration are any indication, evangelical leaders accurately identified key policy issues and pressure points for the year," said Leith Anderson, NAE president.

"We have a great opportunity to stand for religious freedom for all, and on behalf of refugees and immigrants in our communities," he said.

Specifically, the survey showed 63 percent considered religious freedom the most important public policy issue for evangelicals to address this year.

"Evangelicals have been pushed back on our heels by accusations of hatred and bigotry," said Randall Bach, president of Open Bible Churches. "We cannot submit to such intimidation but should lovingly and assertively work toward policies and implementation of policies that respect and protect, rather than deteriorate First Amendment protections."

Recently, in the last week alone, more than 100,000 people signed an American Family Association petition, calling on President Donald Trump to make religious freedom a top priority by signing an executive order to protect that liberty.

"Religious freedom continues to be of paramount importance to many Americans," said AFA President Tim Wildmon. "With evangelical Christians being so instrumental in the election of Donald Trump, many have been buoyed by the great strides he has made so far, just weeks after the inauguration."

"AFA wants to ensure that the president and his administration will keep this crucial issue front and center, especially as many Americans have paid a hefty price for fighting for their religious liberties, such as losing their businesses, savings and more," he continued.

"Now, we urge President Trump to keep his momentum and his promise to protect people of faith from religious discrimination," Wildmon said.

Luke Goodrich, deputy general counsel for Becket, a non-profit law firm dedicated to defending religious freedom, said regardless of who's in power, that freedom is always at risk.

"The government is always tempted to trample on religious freedom, and not just at the federal level, but also at the state and local level," he told CBN News.

"And it's... critically important to remain vigilant, defending not just religious freedom for evangelicals and other Christians, but defending religious freedom for all because if one group doesn't have religious freedom, then nobody has religious freedom," he continued.

Goodrich said one very important religious freedom case before the U.S. Supreme Court that evangelicals need to follow is Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley. The church sued the state of Missouri, accusing it of discrimination related to a state grant program.

Another religious freedom case that he believes should be on the radar of evangelicals is Gaylor v. Lew.

"Freedom from Religion Foundation, an atheist organization, has challenged the parsonage allowance as unconstitutional," Goodrich explained. "And bottom line -- if their lawsuit succeeds, churches all across the country and ministers all across the country will face over $1 billion in new taxes every year."

Following religious freedom, 46 percent of the year-end Evangelical Leaders Survey respondents pointed to immigration/refugees as the top public policy issue.

Fast forward to now, and thousands of evangelical pastors and leaders have signed a letter asking President Trump to reconsider his controversial executive order on refugees.

Jenny Yang, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy on Refugee Resettlement for World Relief, said the increase in signers "demonstrates how many evangelical churches want to welcome refugees." World Relief works with churches to settle refugees across the country and coordinated the letter.

The executive order bans all persons from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. for ninety days and suspends all refugee processing for 120 days. It bars refugees from Syria indefinitely.

"America is pretty much a nation of immigrants and their descendants," Anderson said. "More than any country in the world we should be known for our welcome and treatment of refugees and immigrants in our generation."

Not every Christian leader, though, has been a critic of the president's executive order.

Evangelist Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, told The Huffington Post that it's "not a biblical command for the country to let everyone in who wants to come."

According to CNN, the Rev. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas and a member of Trump's evangelical advisory board, said Christians endure more persecution than other faiths, and in line with the president's pledge, should receive preferential treatment.

Russell Moore, president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, advocated for an even-handed approach in a letter he wrote to the president.

"Achieving the right balance between compassion toward refugees one of the most vulnerable groups of people among us and protection of Americans is crucial if the United States is to remain a model for freedom around the world," Moore wrote.

"It is one thing to debate whether the vetting process is adequate. It is quite another to seek to potentially turn our backs on Syrian refugees permanently," he continued.

The Evangelical Leaders Survey also showed that leaders considered poverty, abortion, racial tension, court nominations, marriage/family and health care as other important public policy issues.

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Evangelicals: Religious Freedom and Refugees Top Priorities for This Year - CBN News

For so many Americans, Obamacare offered career freedom. A repeal could take that away. – Vox

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Health insurance and career opportunity are impossible to separate for Erin Hoover.

Hoover is a 37-year-old Florida State University student who will graduate with a doctorate in English literature this spring. She is also eight months pregnant.

Until recently, Hoover had a clear plan. She would have her baby in March, graduate in May, and begin adjunct work to build up her resume. She felt like she was on a good path; one of her poems was recently selected for the Best American Poetry anthology of 2016.

Adjunct positions typically dont offer health insurance, but that seemed fine. Hoover expected she and her baby would continue to get coverage through the Affordable Care Act, which she has relied on since 2014.

But the presidential election changed all that. Republicans have promised to repeal the health law, but havent yet shown what their replacement plan looks like. Hoover doesnt know if the programs she relies on now will be available. And she thinks that might reshape her impending job search. She is now considering going back to a career in public relations because it would offer benefits.

She is not thrilled at the idea.

I just spent five years getting this degree, she says. I was hoping to utilize it in a new job rather than the old job that I used to work in years ago.

I spend a lot of time talking to Obamacare enrollees like Hoover: people who struck out on their own left a job, started a business, went back to school after Obamacare. They felt empowered to do this because in the reformed individual market, insurers had to offer everyone coverage and couldnt charge sick people more.

And now, many of them are already beginning to rearrange their lives around the laws uncertain future.

There were 1.4 million self-employed people who relied on the marketplaces for coverage in 2014, recent research from the Treasury Department shows. That works out to one-fifth of all marketplace enrollees being people who work for themselves.

Vox has spoken to about a dozen of them, mostly members of a Facebook group we run for Obamacare enrollees. For them, the Affordable Care Act was an opening of opportunity: the possibility to try a new career path knowing that they didnt have to worry about where theyd get coverage. The possibility of repeal, they say, feels like a narrowing of choice.

Here, they describe the choices they were able to make because of Obamacare and how they are changing their lives now that the laws future is in jeopardy.

Some of the people we spoke with said theyd like to figure out a way to continue their careers, despite the uncertainty repeal brings. Theyre hoping that a Republican replacement plan might offer certain features they like about the Affordable Care Act, such as the requirement to cover everyone regardless of preexisting conditions.

But most, like Erin Hoover, were just worried.

I may have felt comfortable going without insurance myself, but I wont let my daughter go without care, she says. I am now being forced to choose between taking care of my family and following my professional ambition.

Are you an Obamacare enrollee? Help our reporting by telling us how the Affordable Care Act has changed your life, and join our Facebook community for conversation and updates.

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For so many Americans, Obamacare offered career freedom. A repeal could take that away. - Vox

Documentary tells stories of NC eugenics program – The Daily Tar Heel

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Rebecca Ayers | Published 11 hours ago

A newly released documentary centers around the efforts of Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., to pass legislation to compensate victims ofNorth Carolina's forced sterilization program, which lasted until 1974.

"The State of Eugenics," directed by Dawn Sinclair Shapiro, tells the stories of individuals sterilized as part of the program which sterilized over 7,600 women, men and children.

In 2013, when Tillis was speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, theNorth Carolina budget set aside $10 million of the state budget for the compensation of sterilized victims.

Elaine Riddick, who is featured in the film, wasunknowingly sterilized after her son's birth in North Carolina at age 14 and isnow executive director of the Rebecca Project for Justice, a national advocate for women's health and safety. She had her first child as the result of a sexual assault and was deemed "feeble-minded" and "promiscuous" by the N.C. Eugenics Board.

It took me a long time to realize that I didn't do anything wrong that I am not feeble-minded, she said. This is something that a white supremacist government did to me.

Riddick said she was 19years old when she discovered she was sterilized,and she was frustrated with the time it took for the state to recognize their offense.

I wanted the world to know that they took something away from me," she said."I started opening up my mouth about what was going on in North Carolina, and it took over 40 years for North Carolina and Virginia to bring justice for what they had done to victims."

Johanna Schoen, a historyprofessorat Rutgersfeatured in the documentary for her expertise on the subject, said compensation is controversial and rarely occurs.

I think states are worried about the public relations aspect if they compensate one group, then other groups will try to be compensated," Schoen said.

In 1927 the U.S. Supreme Courts Buck v. Bell decision affirmed the constitutionality of eugenics programs. Supreme Court Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.wrote at the time, three generations of imbeciles isenough. The decision has yet to be overturned.

The demographics of individuals targeted to receive sterilizationprocedures changed over time, but they were often in thelowest socioeconomic classes, said Anna Krome-Lukens, a lecturer in the publicpolicy and history departmentsat UNC.

Our programs were born in the era of Jim Crow and absolutely reflected ideas about white superiority and racial purity and so on, she said. A sort of interesting byproduct of that is for the first roughly 20 years of the programs, it was actually white women who were sterilized more than black women, and then in the 1950s that shifted.

While the documentary featured a powerful story, Schoen said it ignored that while Tillis fought for the compensation of sterilization victims, he also advocated for reduced access to abortion in the state.

state@dailytarheel.com

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Documentary tells stories of NC eugenics program - The Daily Tar Heel

Australian Bishop Draws Comparison Between Abortion and Nazi … – Church Militant

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BRISBANE, Australia (ChurchMilitant.com) - Archbishop Mark Coleridge is asserting the decriminalization of abortion in Australia will lead to a culture of eugenics.

The archbishop spoke duringMarch for Life Brisbaneon February 11. The event hoped to create opposition for the upcoming decriminalization of abortion vote in the state of Queensland.

Under the current code, both the woman seeking an abortion and the abortionist providing the procedure can be put in jail. The proposed law, called Abortion Law Reform (Woman's Right to Choose) Amendment Act 2016, would remove certain sections of the Criminal Code which would, in fact, allow the procedure with no legal repercussion.

He commented that if abortion is struck from the Criminal Code, the value of life will degenerate and women will use abortion for the sake of convenience. He conveyed that abortion would then be used to kill disabled babies, calling it "eugenics." He said, "It is the kind of thing that went on in Nazi Germany."

He noted the use of abortion in China for population control and pointed out a new trend among Chinese women "having abortions because they are worried about their figure." He added, "At that point you have a culture in trouble."

The archbishop went on to say, "I think a government that is very strongly opposed to domestic violence but strongly in favor of greater access to abortion has a kind of a contradiction at its heart." He added, "It's a contradiction and probably is hypocrisy."

Two Queensland politicians, Labor Premier Annastacia Palazczuk and Deputy Premier Jackie Trad, are vocal advocates of the legislation and claim to be Catholic.

Coleridge said of them, "Whether they are both Catholic in name, I am not in a position to judge. But it would seem to me that to be a protagonist to this type of legislation is very hard to reconcile with anything that resembles true Catholic faith."

Trad and Palazczuk met with the archbishop on February 12 with the archibishop offering he to "counsel" them. They refused, and Trad commented on Facebook:

She commented the following day at a press conference, "I don't need counselling about my position on abortion. I have been pro-choice all my adult life." She continued, "I am a Catholic, but I'm also a woman, and I simply disagree with the Church's views on a woman's right to choose." She added, "It's also sad that we have reached a new low in this debate when women who have abortions are compared to Nazis."

The bill will be voted on by parliament sometime in March.

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4 elements of auto finance in ‘new digital ecosystem’ – Auto Remarketing

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4 elements of auto finance in 'new digital ecosystem'
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Automotive and asset finance software solutions provider White Clarke Group recently released its latest publication titled, Global Technology Report 2017: Auto Finance in the New Digital Ecosystem. The company highlighted the report, and ...

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4 elements of auto finance in 'new digital ecosystem' - Auto Remarketing

Technical Assessments Underpin the Success of Ecosystem-Based … – ReliefWeb

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UNDP and Deltares Sign Cooperative Agreement to Improve Implementation of Climate Change Adaptation Initiatives

February 13, 2017 - Adaptation to climate change doesnt always require infrastructure-centric solutions. Solutions need to be context specific and fit for purpose, and inclusion of the physical and ecological system as part of the solution will increase sustainability and adaptive capacity of interventions under a changing climate.

For instance, the future of many Small Island Developing States (SIDS) partly depends on the status of their ecosystems and their ability to work with and manage these ecosystems. Take Tonga for instance. This SID faces a constant onslaught of climate hazards and natural disasters. Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, cyclones, sea level rise, eroding coasts you name it, and Tonga probably has it. In fact, most experts consider the Kingdom of Tonga to be one of the most at-risk countries in the world to the effects of climate change.

In the context of the Island group of Haapai, about 150 km from the Tongan capital of Nukualofa, it is very evident that building 4-7-meter-high walls as suggested by some feasibility assessments to keep the rising seas and increasingly hostile extreme events at bay will only offer a false sense of security at best. At worst, it will imprison inhabitants in this small group of islands and not provide a robust strategy under uncertain climate change scenarios.

Investments in risk reduction and adaptation will need to employ a thorough systems analysis approach to determine the varied and nuanced challenges that are posed by a variety of climate change hazards but also to get a better grip on the role, status and development of Haapais protective reef systems. Understanding these complexities is critical to ensuring that eventual solutions cut across economic sectors, value chains and communities to advance a holistic and integrated approach that takes not just a few parameters into account, but looks at how the economy, ecosystem, climate variables and society work together as a whole.

With the goal of addressing the unique challenges posed by the complex eco-economical constructs of coastal zones, the United Nations Development Programs (UNDP) Global Environmental Finance Unit signed a memorandum of understanding recently with the independent research institute Deltares, based in the Netherlands and world leading on delta and water management. This partnership will strengthen the advice and guidance that countries receive to design and implement new and ongoing climate change adaptation initiatives in coastal zones and river basins.

Deltares is an institute for applied research to improve water and soil management in coastal zones and river-basins. Our knowledge base is applied in flood risk management, adaptive delta planning, infrastructure projects, water and sub-soil resources, and water-based ecosystem management, said Bregje van Wesenbeeck, a Deltares expert on coastal zone management and ecosystem-based adaptation. Bregje provides insights and guidance on improving project design for a new UNDP-supported climate change project in the works for Tonga.

In all, UNDPs climate change adaptation portfolio has more than 50 projects directly related to water stresses and management across the globe, and a substantial pipeline of new proposed projects to be funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) will provide more relief for Small Island Developing States in the Pacific. Under the GCF, US$165 million has already been allocated towards five projects in the Pacific, including a new UNDP-supported project in Samoa on Integrated Flood Management to Enhance Climate Resilience.

This agreement provides UNDP and its partners with a tremendous knowledge base and know-how that connects food, energy, economy, society, policy and water to build climate adaptation projects designed for the 21st century, said Pradeep Kurukulasuriya, Head Climate Change Adaptation, Global Environmental Finance Unit.

One of the key outputs from the agreement will be the design and application of a novel monitoring and evaluation system customized for the unique challenges presented by water-specific projects.

This knowledge will be packaged and shared across a number of platforms to ensure Governments, development partners, and UNDP staff have the tools they need to support the design and implementation of cutting-edge projects, said Kurukulasuriya. It will also inform the next-generation climate change adaptation projects in the Pacific in places like the Marshall Islands and Papua New Guinea , where UNDP is serving as a trusted broker to connect governments of Small Island Developing States with technical experts on coastal interventions and new funding streams through the Green Climate Fund.

Deltares is an independent institute for applied research in the field of water and subsurface. Throughout the world, Deltares works on smart solutions, innovations and applications for people, environment and society. The institutes main focus is on deltas, coastal regions and river basins.

UNDP Climate Change Adaptation. For UNDP, adaptation to climate change means climate-resilient economic development and sustainable livelihoods, especially for vulnerable populations the poor, women, and indigenous peoples. UNDP supports these goals by assisting over 80 countries to integrate current and future climate risks and uncertainties into national and sub-national development efforts. UNDP works with governments, the private sector, communities, and other partners to build responsive state institutions and public policies; strengthen public and private sector capacities to manage climate change risks and uncertainties; and formulate, finance and implement climate-resilient initiatives.

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Technical Assessments Underpin the Success of Ecosystem-Based ... - ReliefWeb

Snapdeal Makes its E-commerce Ecosystem More Secure and Reliable – News18

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E-Commerce major Snapdeal has announced that it has received the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification making it among the few e-commerce companies in the country to do so.

Read more:Apple Hits Record High But Leaves Some Investors in Dust

The ISO 27001 is the only auditable international standard which defines the requirements for an Information Security Management System to ensure that sufficient security controls are instituted within the certified organization, Snapdeal said in a statement here.

Read more:Apple iPhone 7, 7 Plus Matte Black Coating Chipping Off?

This implies that not only can users be assured of the confidentiality of their private data, but also of the authenticity and reliability of all sellers on the Snapdeal platform.

Read more:Snapdeal-owned Shopo to Down its Shutters Today

Snapdeal received the certification following an extensive external audit, conducted by the BSI group, it said.

"By benchmarking policies and procedures against this internationally recognized standard, Snapdeal reflects its deep commitment to maintaining industry best practices which enhance customer experience while transacting online," Rohit Bansal, co-founder of Snapdeal said.

The certification preserves the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information that helps in implementing an information security management system to gain competitive advantage in the marketplace, meet supply-chain demands and prevent ongoing and evolving cyber threats.

This move is a direct response to the needs of the customers, Snapdeal said.

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Snapdeal Makes its E-commerce Ecosystem More Secure and Reliable - News18

Cris Cyborg: Germaine De Randamie ‘Cannot Run Forever’ – Bleacher Report

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Cris "Cyborg" JustinoJason Silva-USA TODAY Sports Scott HarrisMMA Lead Writer February 13, 2017

Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino is the 145-pound elephant in the UFC's newest room.The UFC's newest champion, Germaine de Randamie, doesn't seem ready to face that elephant yet.

Sooner or later, though, she'll have to. The elephant demands nothing less.

"If you want to be world champ, you cannot choose [an] opponent. You have to fight anybody," Justino said Monday on The MMA Hour broadcast with host Ariel Helwani. "You cannot run. And I felt those girls run from me, you know? It's funny. It's funny for me, but you cannot run forever. You have to fight. And now you have the belt."

That belt is the inaugural UFC women's featherweight title, which De Randamie won in controversial fashion Saturday at UFC 208 with a decision win over Holly Holm.

Women's featherweight is Cyborg's house, though, and everybody knows it. Justino is widely regarded as the best female MMA fighter in any galaxy or weight classthe UFC established the new division essentially as a showcase for Cyborg.

But when UFC brass approached her about a fight, Cyborg said she wanted to wait until the spring to allow her body to recover from two brutal cuts to 140 poundsthe catchweight at which she competed in her first two UFC contests. (Cyborg said Monday she walks around at about 170 pounds.)

The UFC chose not to wait, instead booking Holm versus De Randamie for UFC 208. Every observer assumed the winner was keeping the belt safe and comfortable until Cyborg could come and get it.

There's just one problem: Cyborg (17-1-1) is darn scary. Without coming right out and admitting it, De Randamie acknowledged as much with her comments after the fight, saying she needed surgery to fix the hand she injured three fights ago against Larissa Pacheco in 2015.

"I want to fight everybody," De Randamie told broadcaster Joe Rogan in the cage after the fight (h/t Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting). "If Cris Cyborg is the one I have to fight, Ill fight her. Right now, I really need surgery on my hand. Ill get surgery on my hand, and well see after."

On Monday, De Randamie didn't seem as concerned about the hand when, in an Instagram post, she called for an immediate rematch with Holm.

That wasn't lost on Cyborg. Speaking Monday, Cyborg took it in stride. She's used to it.

"When they go inside thecage, they know," she said. "They know this fight, you're gonna fight Cyborg. ...It sounds funny for her to say 'yeah, I have an injury, I need surgery,' and then she says [she wants a] rematch with Holly Holm. You know, but I don't think [the rematch] is gonna happen."

In the meantime, Cyborg is awaiting a verdict from the United States Anti-Doping Agency regarding a recent positive drug test.

Per ESPN's Brett Okamoto, both Cyborg and UFC president Dana White have expressed optimism that she could receive a therapeutic use exemption for spironolactone,the banned substance in question, and thus would not receive a suspension or other disciplinary action. Cyborg has asserted she has a legitimate medical need for the drug and that it was prescribed to her by a physician.

Cyborg said Monday she hopes to receive a ruling from USADA "soon."

In the meantime, she'll continue to loom over De Randamie and the entire women's featherweight division.

"I wasn't able to get in the cage this weekend because of my health," she said Monday. "If I can't fight like Cyborg, I don't want [to fight]...It doesn't matter if I fight there or fight later. It's going to be my time. Everybody knows who the champ [is] at 145."

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Cris Cyborg: Germaine De Randamie 'Cannot Run Forever' - Bleacher Report

Elon Musk: We’ll have to become cyborg hybrids to keep up – CNET

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Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.

Are humans as we know them done for? Musk seems to think so.

Take a longer look at your kids tonight and marvel at what they'll become.

Because what they'll become will likely be a hybrid of flesh and metal.

I deduce this, taking only a few liberties, from the words of famed seer Elon Musk. As CNBC reported, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO spoke on Monday at the World Government Summit in Dubai.

In a wide-ranging chat that covered life, the universe and even the tunnels he's interested in building below major cities, he told the audience: "Over time I think we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence."

That's a more academic way to say: "Hey mom, your kids will grow up to be half-robots."

Musk explained why, to him, this was inevitable: "It's mostly about the bandwidth, the speed of the connection between your brain and the digital version of yourself, particularly output."

No, your digital version of yourself won't be just your selfies and your Facebook updates. You'll start to become one with the technology that will increasingly take on the burden of organizing society.

Technology demands speed. Humans can't keep up. So we have to implant technology into humans. That way, the machines will be happy because the humans will be machines.

This isn't exactly a new idea. It's been peddled for some time by, for example, Google's director of engineering Ray Kurzweil. He believes that, once chips are implanted in human brains, we'll be "godlike."

Well, who's never fancied being a deity, at least for day?

Musk admitted that he's tortured by the sheer notion of life's meaning in the future. He said he finds it more exciting to think he might die on Mars, rather than boring old Earth. He added that the notion of a "symbiosis" between man and machine ought not to sound so strange.

"To some extent, we are already a cyborg," he said. We already use computers and phones and behave as if we're somewhat attached to them, even after death. "If somebody dies, their digital ghost is still around," he said.

Musk admitted, though, that the current developments in AI will mean immediate societal upheaval. Speaking of self-driving technology, for example, he said that driving currently employs many people, "so we need to figure out new roles for what do those people do, but it will be very disruptive and very quick."

What might those new roles be? There may be no new roles at all. Musk has already floated the idea of a universal basic income for those who are cast aside by technology's rapid progress. Will this cause many humans to be merely the paid idle? Musk didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Tesla CEO understands the dangers of an AI that is simply smarter and more powerful than humans. He's one of the financial contributors to OpenAI, a research company that's trying to ensure that we always stay in control of our fate.

But if we become these Toyota Priuses of human-robotic circuitry, what will be left of our (human) selves?

Won't we choose efficiency over feelings, productivity over joy and HAL over Prince Harry?

It's Complicated: This is dating in the age of apps. Having fun yet? These stories get to the heart of the matter.

Technically Incorrect: Bringing you a fresh and irreverent take on tech.

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Elon Musk: We'll have to become cyborg hybrids to keep up - CNET

New Ghost In The Shell Movie Trailer Reveals Cyborg Villain Kuze – GameSpot

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Following the short Super Bowl teaser for the upcoming anime adaptation Ghost in the Shell, a full trailer has arrived. It provides more plot details than previous trailers, and gives us a first look at the villainous Kuze. Check it out below:

Ghost in the Shell stars Scarlett Johansson as the cyborg cop Major, who leads a futuristic anti-terrorist taskforce known as Section 9. It also features Game of Thrones' Pilou Asbk as the Major's partner Batou, plus Takeshi Kitano, Juliette Binoche, and Michael Pitt.

The movie has been the subject of some controversy due to the casting of Johansson as the lead character, leading to accusations that the filmmakers were "whitewashing" a role that was Japanese in the original manga and anime. In a recent interview, Johansson addressed this criticism.

"I certainly would never presume to play another race of a person," she said. "Diversity is important in Hollywood, and I would never want to feel like I was playing a character that was offensive.

"Also, having a franchise with a female protagonist driving it is such a rare opportunity. Certainly, I feel the enormous pressure of that--the weight of such a big property on my shoulders."

Ghost in the Shell was one of the key anime films to break through to a western audience in the '90s. It was based on Masamune Shirow's manga, and was followed by three more movies, plus a number of video games.

Ghost in the Shell hits theaters on March 31, 2017.

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New Ghost In The Shell Movie Trailer Reveals Cyborg Villain Kuze - GameSpot

Anderson Silva – UFC

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BROOKLYN, N.Y.

Germaine de Randamie had an immense challenge in front of her at UFC 208:

Beat the woman who beat the icon.

Holly Holm will forever be known as the person who changed the course of MMA with her stunning upset of the previously undefeated Ronda Rousey. But de Randamie made her own history Saturday by becoming the first UFC womens featherweight champion at UFC 208 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The big storyline heading into the fight between two world class strikers : What happens if the both women neutralize other on the feet? What if the fight goes to the ground?

Holm tried her best to get fight to the mat, attempting nine takedowns and applying a tireless clinching game plan, but de Randamie stopped every advance by the former bantamweight champion.

The final stats showed that de Randamie edged Holm by just a few strikes, landing 144-122 and 80-77 in significant strikes.

Now a new division has its champion, but the unofficial No. 1 contender Cris Cyborg awaits.

These are the UFC 208 Talking Points

More from UFC 208: Full results | de Randamie makes history by defeating Holm | Silva, Jacare, Teixeira get main card wins | Fighters go distance for prelim wins Watch Octagon interviews: Germaine de Randamie, Anderson Silva, Ryan LaFlare Backstage interviews: Anderson Silva, Jacare Souza, Glover Teixeira Order the UFC 208 digital replay now!

Cris Cyborg awaits the champ

Cris Cyborg was supposed to be a part of the inaugural UFC womens featherweight championship fight. UFC president Dana White has said that he created the division with the Brazilian in mind.

Although she wasnt in the Octagon Saturday night, Cyborg loomed large from her seat in the first row. When the Invicta FC featherweight champion is cleared to return, her first order of business surely will be to get acquainted with the brand-new UFC champion.

The Legend adds another chapter to storied career

The decision may have been a strange one, but Anderson Silva showed that he can still compete at a high level at almost 42 years of age.

Silva won on all three judges scorecards despite being taken down and out-struck by Derek Brunson and now The Spider suddenly has momentum in a very crowded division.

Michael Bisping holds the championship belt, and Yoel Romero and Jacare Souza are seemingly the next challengers. But Silva looked like the Spider of old against Brunson with his improved takedown defense. Because Silva is a counter striker, he tends to wait for his opponents to engage and in this fight it almost cost him.

Silva isnt thinking about retirement just yet. People tell him all the time that he is an old man and ask him why he continues to compete with nothing left to prove.

One of the greatest of all time is just having too much fun.

This is my air, this is my heart. Fight is my life, Silva said. When I go inside the cage I just, I back to my 30 years old and just happy.

Jacare reaffirms position as top threat to champion

After a five-fight win streak to begin his UFC career, Ronaldo Jacare Souza believed he had done enough to earn a title shot. It was a title eliminator fight that came next and the Brazilian dropped a close split decision against Yoel Romero.

Despite having his momentum stunted by The Soldier of God, Jacare has shot right back to the top of the list of title contenders, thanks to first-round finishes against Vitor Belfort and Tim Boetsch, whom Souza submitted Saturday in under four minutes at UFC 208.

The problem for Jacare now is that Romero sits one position ahead of him in the line for a crack at Michael Bisping. So it will likely be a waiting game for Souza, who has established himself as perhaps the pound-for-pound best ground fighter in mixed martial arts.

Poirier returns to contender pool with win

The Dustin Poirier that was finished by knockout less than two minutes into his fight against Michael Johnson apparently was an aberration for The Diamond.

Since moving up to lightweight, Poirier has proved to be a dynamic and tough striker with a well-rounded game. He proved that once again with a magnificent performance against Jim Miller.

Poiriers instincts in the striking exchanges were flawless as he dipped and countered, battering the face of Miller over the course of 15 minutes. The options for Poirier are endless as he now looks to begin a new win streak and another climb up the ladder once again.

Matt Parrino is a digital producer and writer for UFC.com.Follow him on Twitter at @MattParrinoUFC

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Anderson Silva - UFC