Newshour weekend. Pbs newshour weekend is made possible by Corporate Funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why we are your retirement company. Additional support is provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. From the tisch wnet studios in Lincoln Center in new york Hari Sreenivasan. Sreenivasan good evening. Thanks for joining us. Negotiators have reached a deal ending a longrunning, costly labor dispute that slowed the shipment of goods into and out of dozens of ports on the west coast. The tentative agreement between shipping companies and unions representing thousands of longshoreman was brokered by u. S. Labor secretary thomas perez. The white house called the agreement a huge relief. The longshoremen and shippers had been feuding for many months. During that time, the loading and unloading of shipments to and from the United States had slowed at 29 ports up and down the pacific coast. Those ports handle an estimated 50 of u. S. Maritime trade and more than 70 of u. S. Imports from asia. By some estimates, export losses to farmers were thought to be running hundreds of Million Dollars a week. A storm system that brought snow to the rockies and midwest caused dangerous icing in portions of the south. The storm has now moved east affecting major cities along the i95 corridor, including already hardhit boston, which is expected to get five more inches of snow. Lost in all of the coverage of the cold weather, is word from the National Climatic data center that california is having its warmest winter in at least 120 years. It was also the droughtstricken states fourth driest january on record. The federal government has imposed a fine of 14,000 a day on a japanese airbag manufacturer for failing to cooperate with a safety investigation. The fine was levied against takata yesterday for what the national Highway Traffic Safety Administration calls the companys failure to respond fully or truthfully to government inquiries. The Company Denies the charges. The government says takata airbags can explode violently when they deploy, spraying metal fragments. More than 18 million vehicles with the faulty airbags have been recalled in the United States. Two american astronauts ventured outside the International Space station today for more than six and a half hours the first of three scheduled space walks in eight days. They are installing cable so that commercial spacecraft can dock there two years from now. During an unannounced visit to afghanistan today, the nations new defense secretary, ashton carter, met with afghan president ashraf ghani and then told reporters the United States might keep american troops there longer than had been planned. President obama is considering a number of options to reinforce our support for president ghanis security strategy, including possible changes to the timeline for our drawdown of us troops. That could mean taking another look at the timing and sequencing of base closures to ensure we have the right array of coalition capabilities to support our afghan partners. Sreenivasan president obama had said the number of american troops serving there would be cut from 10,000 to 5,000 by the end of this year, and then to near zero by the end of 2016. After a meeting today in london with the British Foreign secretary, secretary of state john kerry said the United States and United Kingdom are weighing new sanctions against russia for its role in the latest round of fighting between promoscow rebels and the Ukrainian Government. We know to a certainty what russia has been providing to the separatists, and the ways in which russia has cynically been willing to go to, even lead, an effort at the u. N. , even simultaneously as it is continuing to do land grabbing in ukraine. Sreenivasan the rebels drove Ukrainian Government forces from a key rail hub this week, just days after the leaders of russia, ukraine, france and germany agreed on a new ceasefire. A show of solidarity with the jewish community, in oslo norway today. An estimated 1,000 people including hundreds of muslims, formed what they described as a ring of peace around a synagogue and chanted, no to anti semitism, no to islamophobia. the event came a week after a radicalized muslim man attacked a Free Speech Forum and then shot a man outside a synagogue in nearby denmark. He killed two people before being shot dead by police. In dubai today, one of the worlds tallest residential buildings, the 86story torch tower, caught fire, sending hundreds of residents fleeing to safety. There were no reported injuries or deaths. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation. Sreenivasan at a briefing this week, a u. S. Official announced plans to take back iraqs second biggest city, mosul, from isis fighters who captured it last june. What are the operations chances for success . For more, we are joined now from washington by douglas ollivant. He was a military planner in iraq and served on the National Security council under both president obama and, before that, president bush. He is now a senior National Security fellow at the new America Foundation and a partner at Mantid International who was recently in iraq. So, what are the plans to try to tackle isis in mosul . Well, according to this briefing, which we can back to in a minute evidently a number of reporters got on background the plan is to seven six or seven iraqi brigrades forward, along with some tribal forces and have the kurds essentially isolated, keep anyone from either fleeing the city or reinforcing it from the north, according to this briefing or the report from this briefing. They believe there are only 1,000 to 2000 Islamic State fighters in the industry and therefore, this force of about 10000 to 20,000, depending on how you count, should have a really chance of pushing them out. And theyre talking about perhaps doing this as article as late spring, april, may. Sreenivasan and considering that there were all those details that even we are talking about, theres been bushbacks of from senators and main and graham, saying we just telegraphed our plans to the enemy. Thats right. Theres a lot of interesting dispute why did this happen . Why did sim comtalk about it . Why are the iraqis not talking about it rather than the americans . Senators graham and mccain are clearly a little bit upset about tipping our hand. And theres a lot of bafflement in the National Security establishment. Was this some military officer freelancing . Did the white house want this to happen . Just exactly how and why did this happen or is this part of some grand information plant . The Washington Post is reporting to downgrade the moral of the fighters in moz and you will try to make it less of a spectacular battle than it might otherwise be. Sreenivasan how difficult is it to fight with 10,000 to 20,000 people against a population of 1,000 or 2,000 in a large city, or a city that of maybe a million, two Million People . It could be very difficult. And heres the issue with the battle of mosul thats going to come. It could be so very very different. Un, 15, the Washington Post story says we want it to be more like the liberation of paris than stalingrad. And that is a distinct possibility. Again, if theres only 1,000 or 2,000 Islamic State fighters in mosul and a population of one million, its entirely possible that as the Iraqi Forces Close that there could be a lot of guerillassed in the city who assassinate key leaders, break down defenses, who destroy their supplies and that, therefore, the battle of mosul is less a bang and a whimper. On the other hand, it could look like stall know grad and it could look like anything in between. Its very difficult ton exactly how this battle will unfold. Sreenivasan does this create an incentive for the different isil factions in the region to band together and defend mosul or for the 1000 to 2,000 say here is my ticket out. Let me go to syria. Thats great question. Thats the problem with war its multivariant and things can go either way. You can see either of those outcomes happening. This could work in the sense of making the fighters in mosul, particularly as they are becoming more isolated. The kurds are putting in this perimeter around the north and northwest of mosul starting to cut them off from syria and making them more isolated. And they may start to feel that and decide its better to live and fight another day someplace else. On the other hand, it could go the opposite wayne and they could dig in and decide to fight. We just dont know. Thats the problem. Sreenivasan do we have greater confidence now in the iraqi forces that theyre up to this task . We seem to. It seems there are more reliable units that have been pushed up from the south that are getting extra training from the american trainers who have been in country for about six months now and that there is a level of confidence that these forces may be ready to do the type of hard, inthecity fighting thats required. Of course, there are doubters. There are people who would say thats not case. But i think mainstream opinion is that theyre going to be ready. Sreenivasan all right douglas ollivant, thanks so much. Thank you. Sreenivasan European Union regulators announced this week theyre developing new rules that could force big multinationals to pay higher taxes in the countries where they operate. Companies like amazon in countries like france. Amazon has already come under fire there by booksellers who believe the way it sells books is threatening their businesses and even undermining the french way of life, charges that dont sit especially well with the company. The newshours Megan Thompson traveled to france recently and filed this report. Reporter the french are proud of their great cultural traditions. Lingering at cafes, celebrating their architecture and fine art. And then theres the french love of books. This is the nation of voltaire victor hugo, emile zola, jules verne. Books are very important in france. France is a very old literary nation. Pierre assouline is a wellknown french author whos written 30 books. Reporter so they talk about books and literature the way we americans might talk about sports or Something Like that about baseball. Reporter about baseball. Books have a special status in france. A concept called the cultural exception, means customers buying books pay the same low sales tax rate as they do on things like food and electricity, because theyre all considered essential goods. And, it turns out, the french love their bookstores as much as their books. Readers are faithful and loyal to the writer. Its obvious. But mainly, to a book seller. To the owner of a bookstore. Reporter so its personal. Its a personal relationship. Yes, its very personal. Reporter but now some here fear the future of frances 2,500 or so bookstores may be threatened as more and more customers buy their books online. And theyre buying from one online giant in particular amazon. Amazon now accounts for around 10 of all new book sales in france, and is on track to become the biggest bookseller here soon. But some critics think amazons gotten there in part by not playing fairly. translated it is i would say, a thug. Its a thug someone who doesnt respect the laws in place within a country and a countrys ecosystem. Reporter Renny Aupetit owns a bookstore in eastern paris. He says he has a problem with the way amazon tries to maximize profits, including its interpretation of a law thats helped small bookstores compete with big chains for decades. In 1981, the french government passed whats known as the lang law, which essentially fixed the price of books. The publisher prints the price on the back and no one can sell it for more than a 5 discount. So no matter where you go to a small independent store a large chain the price is going to be pretty much the same. But what the authors of the law didnt necessarily foresee in the early 80s was the coming of the internet, and amazon. When the Company Launched in france 15 years ago, like everyone else, it could offer a discount of 5 . But amazon offered free shipping. The french said that amounted to an unfair advantage over independent bookstores, especially when coupled with the convenience of shopping from home. So the French Assembly passed a bill in 2013 forbidding any online retailer from offering both a discount and free shipping. In an email to newshour, a representative for amazon declined comment on the law. But when it first passed, the company was quoted in news reports saying all measures that aim to raise the price of books sold online will curb the ability of french people to buy cultural works and discriminates against those who buy online. when the law went into effect last year, amazon agreed to charge for shipping. Sort of. It imposed a shipping charge of one cent. Some of amazons other business tactics have also prompted criticism. translated as a citizen, i have an issue with amazon because of the way it optimizes its taxes. The majority of its revenues are declared in luxembourg. Reporter e. U. Regulators recently announced the deal amazon struck to locate its European Headquarters in luxembourg may be illegal a deal thats minimized the companys tax bill in france and other countries by millions of dollars. Separately, in 2012, france slapped amazon with a 252 million bill for back taxes. Renny aupetit says, if amazons going to sell books in france, it should pay taxes at the same rate here that he does. translated every time you choose to buy a book, you contribute to the place where you buy it. So if you buy it on amazon, it makes amazon stronger. But if you want to buy a book from someone who contributes to the economy of its country, so that there are hospitals, roads and so on, then you should buy it from someone who pays its taxes in france. Its simple. Reporter an amazon representative told newshour that as for the french demand for back taxes, we dispute and will always contest this request, and, amazon pays all applicable taxes in every jurisdiction in which we operate and always will. but doesnt amazon have a positive role to play . People all over the world can buy french books. translated when amazon arrived, it revolutionized the logistics of the book business, and i think thats been beneficial. But as a citizen, i have a problem with amazon. It doesnt behave with a sense of civic spirit, and in france we care about this. Reporter despite amazons problems in france, not everyone sees it as all bad. Author pierre assoulines many books are sold on amazon. I know, a lot of a lot of people in a few places in france where you do not have any bookstores. And, thanks to amazon they can read all the books. Even me, i have, very often i i have ordered books on amazon. The ideal world, its world where you have amazon, and the bookstores, like in france today. Reporter and bernard terrades, who owns a used book store in pariss Latin Quarter says selling books on amazon has helped him gain more customers. translated its had the benefit of increasing our popularity a little. Many people have discovered us thanks to the internet. So its not all negative. They are also positive points. I have customers who live far away who have met me online and they now come to see me whenever they come to paris. Reporter even still, terrades says his feelings are mixed, because he feels he didnt really have a choice. He says he had to sell on a big site like amazon, because there was no way he could compete with a web site of his own. translated i will show up on the 20th page of search results. Nobody will ever come to my site so its mission impossible. I dont have amazons money to achieve this so i dont have a choice. I have to be hosted by them. The system is not fair. Its just business. Reporter back in east paris, Renny Aupetit has made it his mission to help brickandmortar booksellers compete online. Five years ago he launched a web site, lalibrairie. Com or, the bookstore dotcom. Its a union of about 1800 booksellers across france that all sell their books on one site. But theres a catch customers order books online, but must go to their local bookstore to pick them up. And that, aupetit says, is where customers will find an experience they can never find online. translated weve noticed when people make an online purchase they stay an average of two minutes on the site, while when people come in a bookstore, they stay one hour, two hours or longer. We have armchairs couches. The bookstore is a place where people come and wander, get suggestions, talk about books. Its not a place where you come with a very defined idea of what you want. So its a cultural venue in a way. The concept im defending is you can use modern communication tools, but if everything is ordered from your home and delivered at your home and nobody talks to each other anymore, thats not a society i want to live in. Sreenivasan learn more about how the world reads, including how ereaders are affecting global reading habits. See our infographic on facebook. Visit facebook. Com newshour. Sreenivasan a Government Advisory Committee made a series of recommendations thursday about what americans should, and shouldnt eat and drink. The groups findings will help shape the official guidelines being drawn by the departments of agriculture and health and human services. For more about this, we are joined now from boston by alice lichtenstein. She is a professor of Nutrition Science and policy at Tufts University and helped draft the guidelines. So i know it was a 500pluspage report, but in broad stroarkz what were the major areas of focus in this report . Well the major area of focus was that we should really be thinking about the whole diet a dietary pattern and not just individual componentses. Because we know when one component of the diet goes up another component of the diet goes down. Sreenivasan so different is that from the recommendations that came out, say five years ago . There are subtle tweaks. First of all these arent recommendations. Remember, this is just a summary of an evidence, a report. I would say some of the differences are we put less emphasis on restricting dietary cholesterol because the evidence didnt support it. We addressed issues related to sodium, which has been quite controversial, indicating that the important thing to focus on is reducing sodium intake. We recommended putting a limit on the amount of added sugar that anyone consumes at one time. And then also addressed issues related to coffee, indicating that coffee consumption, per se, does not have adverse effects. It may actually have beneficial effects, although you have to be concerned about the amount of cream and sugar thats added. Sreenivasan youve also already gotten pushback from the beef industry, and possibly the sugar lobby, the Beverage Industry because this is the one of the first times i remember you are saying consume lesof something, like less red meat. In terms of the red meat, from the meat industry, i think there is somewhat of a misunderstanding. We do say diets high in red and processed meats are associated with increased Adverse Health outcomes. However, we also clearly state that consuming a limited amount of lean red meat can fit into a healthy dietary pattern. Sreenivasan and you also added a sustainability component to this saying that certain foods like plantbased foods are more sustainable and perhaps we should choose in that direction and thats gotten some pushbacks from folks thats a political and ideological distinction. It has no bearing on what type of food we should be eating. Well, i think theres more nuance there, that if the federal government makes certain recommendations about eating more of something then we have to make sure that its going to be available and that theres not going to be any adverse effect on the environment. And i think we saw that with fish. There was a recommendation quite eye few years ago to increase fish consumption. There was a lot of concern about depleting the stocks of wildcaught fish so the industry really stepped in and developed some really sustainable and environmentally responsible ways of farming fish, and i think we can use that as a model for some of the other concerns that have been raised. I dont think it should be viewed necessarily as negative or trying to impede any one industry. I think we should view it as an opportunity to be creative. Sreenivasan so help me understand how this report impacts the budget decisions that are made on, say School Lunches or nutrition programs . According to the federal legislation, any feeding program that is supported by federal dollars has to adhere to the dietary guideline. So if the dietary guidelines that are going to come out at the end of this year indicate that less than 10 of calories should come from sugar, that means feeding programs, whether it be military or the school lunch, would have to limit the amount of sugar thats actually in those meals. Sreenivasan all right, alice lichtenstein, thanks so much for your time. Youre very welcome. Thanks for the opportunity to comment. This is pbs newshour weekend saturday. Sreenivasan and now to viewers like you your chance to comment on our work. Tonight, your largely onesided responses to last saturdays signature segment. In it we reported on the state of nebraska suing the state of colorado over the legalization of marijuana, and how that has increased the costs of Law Enforcement in the cornhusker state. There was this from readmore these states need to stop whining and move into the 21st century with the rest of us. have suffered direct and significant harm arising from the increased presence of coloradosourced marijuana. lmao, riiiight. And this from lorelei lee87 while i agree that marijuana should be legal in all 50 states, i have to say that those people trying to transport it from colorado are not the brightest bulbs. Of course they are watching the border, you should have realized that the moment it became legal there. Mikeparent commented on the local Police Authority its his choice to ramp up enforcement, then he complains about increased work load. Wed all be better off if the police would focus on crimes that have actual victims. Mirko sansan said, really. Just stop fishing for the pot when you pull people over for speeding. and from daveslc, i find it hypocritical that these same red states where conservatives continually clamor about states rights are now wanting federal intervention in colorado. Anthony j. Costa added, are they seizing and confiscating these harmless peoples doritos too . . Javier Alicea noted, if its illegal in your state, dont smoke pot. Wait till your state legalizes it. And there was this from Barbara Reedy get over it nebraska. And k. A. Berry said simply, no one saw this coming . As always, we welcome your comments at pbs. Org newshour, on our facebook page, or tweet us newshour. Sreenivasan some more news before we leave you tonight. A strike at some of the nations Oil Refineries is spreading. Workers at the nations largest refinery walked off the job early today in texas. Union leaders warn that strikes could begin at refineries in louisiana tomorrow. Negotiations over wages and benefits and safety issues have bogged down. And finally tonight, wed like to say thank you and best wishes to a valued colleague and friend. Our director wayne palmer is retiring after tonights broadcast. He has excelled during his 40plus years in Public Television. Wayne palmer, a total pro air, good man. Thank you very much. Thats it for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. Im Hari Sreenivasan thanks for watching. Captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org pbs newshour weekend is made possible by Corporate Funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why we are your retirement company. Additional support is provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. If i had a secret as to how you could stop yourself from aging badly and actually turn the clock around and feel younger, wouldnt you like to know it . Im miranda esmondewhite, and im going to share that secret with you today. Miranda esmondewhite is host of the longrunning Public Television fitness show classical stretch and author of the book aging backwards. Miranda has been training professional athletes since creating her own fitness technique 15 years ago. As ive aged, and im now 78 my body feels like im, i dont know, 60. People are always commenting on how fit i look, and i say
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