A loud explosion has been heard in central Kabul, according to news agency witnesses.
Reuters news agency reported on Tuesday that smoke had been seen over the city and sirens were sounded at the US embassy.
The AFP news agency also reported that a loud blast was heard.
Unverified images shared on social media appeared to show a thick plume of black smoke rising over the city.
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Monday, April 18, 2016
Amazon’s new strategy to steal Netflix customers — and keep them
Amazon is rolling out two new offerings for would-be customers that could radically reshape the way people interact with the company's Amazon Prime service.
First, Amazon is making its streaming video service, Prime Video, available monthly for $8.99. That's a dollar less than what Netflix charges per month for its standard price tier.
Second, Amazon is making it possible to pay for a full Amazon Prime subscription on a monthly basis at $10.99 a month. For folks who've balked at Amazon Prime's yearly $99 price tag, the change means more flexibility to use Prime on a short-term basis.
(Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos also owns The Washington Post.)
Breaking Prime Video out as a separate product seems clearly aimed at capturing the ever-expanding market for streaming video. Together, Netflix and YouTube account for over half of all Internet consumption, according to Sandvine. Throw in streaming audio, and that figure jumps to 70 percent.
Amazon wants to muscle its way in there, too, but so far its share of North American Internet traffic stands at just 3 percent.
With experiments in original video such as "The Man in the High Castle," Amazon is building the kind of exclusive content war chest that any Internet and media giant now needs to set itself apart. And in appealing directly to cord-cutters and Internet streamers with a standalone offering, Amazon seems poised for a head-to-head fight with Netflix. But what also makes this move so interesting is that it helps shed some light on the way Amazon thinks about pricing.
One of the first things you'll notice about this week's changes is that Prime monthly is only $2 a month more expensive than standalone Prime Video. On its face, this suggests a huge discrepancy between Prime Video and all the other features you get as a Prime member, such as free two-day shipping, unlimited photo storage in the cloud and so on. Are the logistics behind Amazon shipping, the music licensing that gives you access to streaming music and all the negotiations with publishers for ebooks really only worth $24 a year per user?
One of the first things you'll notice about this week's changes is that Prime monthly is only $2 a month more expensive than standalone Prime Video. On its face, this suggests a huge discrepancy between Prime Video and all the other features you get as a Prime member, such as free two-day shipping, unlimited photo storage in the cloud and so on. Are the logistics behind Amazon shipping, the music licensing that gives you access to streaming music and all the negotiations with publishers for ebooks really only worth $24 a year per user?
Here's another way to look at: All the non-video benefits of Prime are worth way more than $24 a year, but it's important to Amazon's brand to make ebooks and free shipping look cheap and easy, which is why even though it might cost Amazon more to provide those services, they're being given to consumers at a loss. This would be consistent with Bezos's overarching strategy. When the Kindle first debuted, for example, it was sold at cost, and Amazon made no profits on sales of the device. But in the long run, Amazon makes it all back when Prime customers spend more money buying things on Amazon than non-subscribers.
Finally, there's an important competitive reason why standalone Prime Video is priced as it is. It all comes back to that original point about Netflix. Because Amazon is going after Netflix, it can't afford to set the price much lower without sending the unintended message that perhaps Prime Video is an inferior product. So while monthly Prime Video is a slightly better deal than Netflix, reflecting its relatively lower profile and content selection, it's not dramatically cheaper by comparison, either.
First, Amazon is making its streaming video service, Prime Video, available monthly for $8.99. That's a dollar less than what Netflix charges per month for its standard price tier.
Second, Amazon is making it possible to pay for a full Amazon Prime subscription on a monthly basis at $10.99 a month. For folks who've balked at Amazon Prime's yearly $99 price tag, the change means more flexibility to use Prime on a short-term basis.
(Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos also owns The Washington Post.)
Breaking Prime Video out as a separate product seems clearly aimed at capturing the ever-expanding market for streaming video. Together, Netflix and YouTube account for over half of all Internet consumption, according to Sandvine. Throw in streaming audio, and that figure jumps to 70 percent.
Amazon wants to muscle its way in there, too, but so far its share of North American Internet traffic stands at just 3 percent.
With experiments in original video such as "The Man in the High Castle," Amazon is building the kind of exclusive content war chest that any Internet and media giant now needs to set itself apart. And in appealing directly to cord-cutters and Internet streamers with a standalone offering, Amazon seems poised for a head-to-head fight with Netflix. But what also makes this move so interesting is that it helps shed some light on the way Amazon thinks about pricing.
One of the first things you'll notice about this week's changes is that Prime monthly is only $2 a month more expensive than standalone Prime Video. On its face, this suggests a huge discrepancy between Prime Video and all the other features you get as a Prime member, such as free two-day shipping, unlimited photo storage in the cloud and so on. Are the logistics behind Amazon shipping, the music licensing that gives you access to streaming music and all the negotiations with publishers for ebooks really only worth $24 a year per user?
One of the first things you'll notice about this week's changes is that Prime monthly is only $2 a month more expensive than standalone Prime Video. On its face, this suggests a huge discrepancy between Prime Video and all the other features you get as a Prime member, such as free two-day shipping, unlimited photo storage in the cloud and so on. Are the logistics behind Amazon shipping, the music licensing that gives you access to streaming music and all the negotiations with publishers for ebooks really only worth $24 a year per user?
Here's another way to look at: All the non-video benefits of Prime are worth way more than $24 a year, but it's important to Amazon's brand to make ebooks and free shipping look cheap and easy, which is why even though it might cost Amazon more to provide those services, they're being given to consumers at a loss. This would be consistent with Bezos's overarching strategy. When the Kindle first debuted, for example, it was sold at cost, and Amazon made no profits on sales of the device. But in the long run, Amazon makes it all back when Prime customers spend more money buying things on Amazon than non-subscribers.
Finally, there's an important competitive reason why standalone Prime Video is priced as it is. It all comes back to that original point about Netflix. Because Amazon is going after Netflix, it can't afford to set the price much lower without sending the unintended message that perhaps Prime Video is an inferior product. So while monthly Prime Video is a slightly better deal than Netflix, reflecting its relatively lower profile and content selection, it's not dramatically cheaper by comparison, either.
Pearl Jam Cancels North Carolina Concert Over LGBT Law
Pearl Jam has canceled a concert in North Carolina over HB2, the state law that reverses LGBT protections put in place by local ordinances.
In a statement on its website, the band explained its decision to cancel the April 20 concert in Raleigh:
The HB2 law that was recently passed is a despicable piece of legislation that encourages discrimination against an entire group of American citizens. The practical implications are expansive and its negative impact upon basic human rights is profound. We want America to be a place where no one can be turned away from a business because of who they love or fired from their job for who they are.
It is for this reason that we must take a stand against prejudice, along with other artists and businesses, and join those in North Carolina who are working to oppose HB2 and repair what is currently unacceptable.
Pearl Jam joins other musicians who’ve canceled North Carolina shows in opposition to the law, including Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr.
In a statement on its website, the band explained its decision to cancel the April 20 concert in Raleigh:
The HB2 law that was recently passed is a despicable piece of legislation that encourages discrimination against an entire group of American citizens. The practical implications are expansive and its negative impact upon basic human rights is profound. We want America to be a place where no one can be turned away from a business because of who they love or fired from their job for who they are.
It is for this reason that we must take a stand against prejudice, along with other artists and businesses, and join those in North Carolina who are working to oppose HB2 and repair what is currently unacceptable.
Pearl Jam joins other musicians who’ve canceled North Carolina shows in opposition to the law, including Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr.
Reasons Why You Should Avoid Online Dating When You’re Lonely
It’s late in the evening. All your emails are read and the good TV is over for the night. You’re feeling a little bit… lonely. Unsure what to do, you open that dating app and start to swipe. You bring your laptop out of hibernation and start to scroll. You see faces of potential partners wiz by and for a moment, it helps.
Your smile returns.
We’ve all been in this moment – the moment when a twinge of loneliness spurs an online dating session. But is this really a good habit to get into when feeling lonely? Most people who have performed this late-night ritual will say that no, it’s not the best way to handle loneliness. Any sense of hope for connection is wiped out with one, “Hey baby, you’re sexy.”
You plummet back to Earth.
Online dating is a great way to meet people you never would otherwise, and it can be a supremely fun activity when you’re in a positive frame of mind. But when you’re in a lonely mood, online dating can actually exacerbate your loneliness.
Let’s discuss the top three reasons online dating does not cure – or even reduce – loneliness.
It’s about time…
There is a mountain of evidence that suggests loneliness is not caused by being alone; it’s caused by a lack of relationships that feel deep and satisfying. While relationships that start online certainly can become deep and satisfying (many people find their life-mates online), gaining this kind of depth takes time.
You won’t achieve the kind of relationship that reduces loneliness in an hour or two of online dating. You very well may find your husband or wife online, but you won’t get the emotional benefits of having a husband or wife right away. That takes time.
2. It’s about technology…
Technology is just about the best (read: most efficient) way to meet new people these days. Gone are the days of striking up a conversation with a stranger at the bank, and for most people, that’s just fine. Give me a picture and a humorous tagline, thank you.
But there’s ample evidence that technology is not the best (read: most accurate) way to get to know someone. Knowing someone well is essential to developing a deep relationship, and there are certain ways technology makes that harder to do.
It’s been proven that everyone lies on their online dating profiles. It’s also been demonstrated that people have a harder time gauging sincerity when layers of communication like facial expression and body language are removed.
When it comes to satisfying relationships – the kind that ease loneliness – knowing one another well is critical. This is actually super hard to do online.
3. It’s about stress…
In his recent book Modern Romance, comedian Aziz Ansari recalls interviewing hundreds of young people involved in online dating. He describes talking to one girl, for whom “the process [of online dating] had morphed from something fun and exciting into a new source of stress and dread.”
While online dating can be awesome fun if you’re in the right mood, it can also become a source of stress if you’re in a negative mood. And in an ironic twist, loneliness has been found to actually increase the negative health consequences of stress.
One typical symptom of stress is increased inflammation in the body. A study performed at Ohio State University found that lonely individuals, when stressed, actually produced more body-wide inflammation than non-lonely individuals. This, along with other studies showing similar findings, suggests that online dating plus loneliness could equal a stress double-whammy.
The good news is that finding love is definitely not the only path out of loneliness. Instead of dating-when-lonely, try reconnecting with a friend or investing some time in yourself. Once you’re feeling happier and more connected, go online and get those dates locked down.
Palestine loses $285m in revenues due to Israel accords
The report, which also said Israel is withholding an additional $669m in accumulated Palestinian revenue, will be presented to the Ad Hoc Liaison committee (AHLC) of donor states to the PA on Tuesday in Brussels.
This number includes pension contributions from Palestinian workers inside Israel, as well as salary deductions for their health and social benefits, which are supposed to be transferred to a dedicated fund that the PA has yet to establish, the bank said.
These lost revenues could reduce the PA's 2016 fiscal deficit to below $1 billion, and more than half the expected shortfall in financing, said Steen Lau Jorgensen, the World Bank’s country director for the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in a statement.
Under the 1994 Paris Protocol, Israel was expected to collect taxes on the PA’s behalf – import duties, value-added tax and other revenues which constitute more than 66 percent of total public revenue – and turn them over every month. The lost revenues exclude taxes collected in Area C – 60 percent of the West Bank under full Israeli military and administrative control.
The World Bank said that these arrangements have not been systematically applied, leading to lost revenue, which is also being diluted by tax leakages on trade between the PA and Israel, and the undervaluation of Palestinian imports from third countries.
The report recommended resurrecting the defunct Israeli-Palestinian Joint Economic Committee, which was created to ensure the Paris Protocol is implemented and bilateral problems are resolved. It also called for re-examining the high handling fee Israel charges the PA, which it uses to fund more than 30 percent of its own finance ministry's customs and VAT department.
Observers said that the report highlights only some of the ways in which Israel benefits from the Palestinians.
“This report is just one small aspect of Israel's money-making machine,” said Diana Buttu, a lawyer and former adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). “Israel actively blocks the economy and imposes these ridiculous fees.”
“Part of the denial of political freedom is the denial of economic freedom,” Buttu told Al Jazeera. “Israel has, for years, made money off of the denial of Palestinian freedom, whether by stealing land, resources, and blocking off Palestinians through checkpoints, so as to make it easier to flood Palestinian markets with Israeli goods.”
The bank voiced concern over limited economic growth in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Last year, the economy saw a 3.5 percent growth that it said was barely enough to match the population growth. “More needs to be done to overcome tax losses and stimulate growth in an economy that is not growing enough to raise living standards or reduce high unemployment,” the report said.
In the Gaza Strip, recovery has been prolonged due to slow aid, with only 40 percent of the amount pledged at the 2014 Cairo Conference disbursed. “...Only nine percent of totally damaged houses and 45 percent of partially damaged houses [in Gaza] have been repaired,” Jorgensen said. “Over 14,800 families continue to be displaced. For these people in Gaza, there is no escape.”
Some critics noted that while the report is a helpful means to quantify losses, it is missing the context needed to impact policy intervention.
“It is astonishing that, once again, the word “occupation” is not mentioned at all in this new World Bank report, which reflects deep problematic understanding and framing,” said Ala Tartir, the program director of Al Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network.
“As a UN body, the World Bank must be obliged to use the language of international law that recognises the illegality of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian land, and calls it an occupation – not “restrictions and political instability,” Tartir told Al Jazeera.
This number includes pension contributions from Palestinian workers inside Israel, as well as salary deductions for their health and social benefits, which are supposed to be transferred to a dedicated fund that the PA has yet to establish, the bank said.
These lost revenues could reduce the PA's 2016 fiscal deficit to below $1 billion, and more than half the expected shortfall in financing, said Steen Lau Jorgensen, the World Bank’s country director for the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in a statement.
Under the 1994 Paris Protocol, Israel was expected to collect taxes on the PA’s behalf – import duties, value-added tax and other revenues which constitute more than 66 percent of total public revenue – and turn them over every month. The lost revenues exclude taxes collected in Area C – 60 percent of the West Bank under full Israeli military and administrative control.
The World Bank said that these arrangements have not been systematically applied, leading to lost revenue, which is also being diluted by tax leakages on trade between the PA and Israel, and the undervaluation of Palestinian imports from third countries.
The report recommended resurrecting the defunct Israeli-Palestinian Joint Economic Committee, which was created to ensure the Paris Protocol is implemented and bilateral problems are resolved. It also called for re-examining the high handling fee Israel charges the PA, which it uses to fund more than 30 percent of its own finance ministry's customs and VAT department.
Observers said that the report highlights only some of the ways in which Israel benefits from the Palestinians.
“This report is just one small aspect of Israel's money-making machine,” said Diana Buttu, a lawyer and former adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). “Israel actively blocks the economy and imposes these ridiculous fees.”
“Part of the denial of political freedom is the denial of economic freedom,” Buttu told Al Jazeera. “Israel has, for years, made money off of the denial of Palestinian freedom, whether by stealing land, resources, and blocking off Palestinians through checkpoints, so as to make it easier to flood Palestinian markets with Israeli goods.”
The bank voiced concern over limited economic growth in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Last year, the economy saw a 3.5 percent growth that it said was barely enough to match the population growth. “More needs to be done to overcome tax losses and stimulate growth in an economy that is not growing enough to raise living standards or reduce high unemployment,” the report said.
In the Gaza Strip, recovery has been prolonged due to slow aid, with only 40 percent of the amount pledged at the 2014 Cairo Conference disbursed. “...Only nine percent of totally damaged houses and 45 percent of partially damaged houses [in Gaza] have been repaired,” Jorgensen said. “Over 14,800 families continue to be displaced. For these people in Gaza, there is no escape.”
Some critics noted that while the report is a helpful means to quantify losses, it is missing the context needed to impact policy intervention.
“It is astonishing that, once again, the word “occupation” is not mentioned at all in this new World Bank report, which reflects deep problematic understanding and framing,” said Ala Tartir, the program director of Al Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network.
“As a UN body, the World Bank must be obliged to use the language of international law that recognises the illegality of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian land, and calls it an occupation – not “restrictions and political instability,” Tartir told Al Jazeera.
Everybody Loves Raymond Star Doris Roberts Dies
Doris Roberts, who played Marie Barone in the long-running sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, has died at the age of 90.
The veteran actress passed away in her sleep at her home in Los Angeles, a family spokeswoman said.
Her cause of death has not been made public, but a statement said the Missouri-born actress had been healthy and active.
Roberts' performance as Ray Romano's meddlesome mother in the TV comedy about a dysfunctional family was one of her best-known roles.
Upon hearing of her death, Romano said: "Doris Roberts had an energy and a spirit that amazed me. She never stopped.
"Whether working professionally or with her many charities, or just nurturing and mentoring a green young comic trying to make it as an actor, she did everything with such a grand love for life and people and I will miss her dearly."
During Everybody Loves Raymond's nine-year run, she won the outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series award at the Emmys four times - and was nominated a further three times.
In 1983, she also won the outstanding supporting actress in a drama series award for her role in the medical soap opera St Elsewhere.
After Everybody Loves Raymond came to an end in 2005, she made guest appearances in other well-known TV shows such as Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives.
Phil Rosenthal, who created Everybody Loves Raymond, tweeted: "We loved our mom, the great Doris Roberts. A wonderful, funny, indelible actress and friend."
She is survived by her son, Michael, and three grandchildren.
US student escorted off plane 'for speaking Arabic'
An Iraqi university student in California says he was escorted off a Southwest Airlines flight for having a conversation in Arabic.
Southwest Airlines said that Khairuldeen Makhzoomi was removed from a 9 April flight before it took off.
Mr Makhzoomi said he was talking to his uncle on the phone about attending a speech by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
A Southwest employee then escorted him off of the plane.
"I was very excited about the event, so I called my uncle to tell him about it," Mr Makhzoomi told the New York Times.
A woman on the plane began staring at him after he used the phrase "inshallah," meaning "god willing," in the conversation, he said.
After an Arabic-speaking Southwest employee escorted him off the plane, he said "This is what Islamophobia got this country into."
Mr Makhzoomi, who came to the country as an Iraqi refugee and studies at the University of California at Berkeley, was then told he could not get back on the plane.
"My family and I have been through a lot, and this is just another one of the experiences I have had,'' he told the New York Times.
"Human dignity is the most valuable thing in the world, not money. If they apologised, maybe it would teach them to treat people equally."
Southwest said in its statement that he was removed for "potentially threatening comments made aboard our aircraft" and that it does not tolerate discrimination.
"We wouldn't remove passengers from flights without a collaborative decision rooted in established procedures," the company said. "We regret any less than positive experience onboard our aircraft."
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