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Big Health Keeps Getting Bigger: Aetna To Buy Rival Health Insurer Humana

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Big Health Keeps Getting Bigger: Aetna To Buy Rival Health Insurer Humana

Consolidation continues to occur in the already consolidated health insurance market as hot on the heals of Anthem’s $54 billion bid for rival Cigna, Aetna announced it will acquire all outstanding shares of Humana at roughly $230 per Humana share.

The cash and stock deal represents a 23% premium to Humana’s Thursday closing price.

The massive new company will have over 33 million members, revenue of over $115 billion per year, and have 56% of sales coming from government-sponsored programs such as Medicare.

“This combination will allow us to continue to invest in excellent service for our members and strengthen our partnerships with providers to deliver high quality care at an affordable price,” said Mark Bertolini, Aetna’s chairman and CEO, in a statement.

Both Aetna and Humana shares fell nearly 3% on Thursday prior to the deal being announced.

The U.S. health insurance industry has seen lots of deal making lately as in addition to Anthem’s offer for Cigna, UnitedHealth had been interested in either Aetna or Humana. 2014 was a huge year of healthcare mergers with giant Pfizer offering over $100 billion for rival AstraZeneca at one point.

In the health insurance industry the race for deals has been driven by The Affordable Care Act which has meant more business for major insurers because of more Americans having health insurance, but lower margins due to provisions in the act.

By merging, company can in theory reduce costs and thus maintain margins on the Affordable Care Act plans. There is also a race to do deals before the November open enrollment period, the next such period on the act’s roadmap.

While plans may continue to be cheap on the surface, many doctors fear that these mergers will put even more power into the hands of a precious few health insurance companies.

Bigger insurers could raise premiums in the future or reduce the number of doctors and hospitals in coverage plans.

These are sure to be questions that will be asked by the Federal Trade Commission when it examines the mega deal, should it be approved by both groups of shareholders.

ISIS ‘Emir Of Suicide Bombers’ Killed In Coalition Air Strike

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ISIS ‘Emir Of Suicide Bombers’ Killed In Coalition Air Strike

A U.S. official announced on Thursday that senior ISIS leader Tariq al-Harzi, known as the “emir of suicide bombers,” was killed by a targeted coalition airstrike in Syria last month.

Al-Harzi was a prominent logistician for the terror group, coordinating efforts to move jihadists and weapons into Iraq and Syria to keep the militant organization’s war machine humming, according to intelligence officials.

Born in Tunisia, Al-Harzi is believed to be one of the first foreign fighters to join ISIS. In addition to helping with logistics he was also responsible for the Sunni extremist group’s highly effective use of suicide and car bombs in Iraq, the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed.

“This was a big get,” said Mike Rogers, former chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee. “It will be very disruptive to their operation for at least some period of time.”

Department of Defense spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis confirmed that Al-Harzi was killed in Shaddadi, Syria, on June 16th.

The State Department offered a $3 million reward for information on his whereabouts ever since he was placed on the U.S. Designated Terrorist List last year.

The Pentagon killed al-Harzi’s brother in an airstrike in Mosul, Iraq, on June 15th.

The U.S. government had called him “a person of interest” in the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept 11, 2012 and the more junior terrorist had also been responsible for coordinating ISIS’ moves into North Africa.

British Government Caught Spying On Human Rights Group Amnesty International

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British Government Caught Spying On Human Rights Group Amnesty International

Hot on the heels of recent revelations that the U.S. Government has been spying on members of several foreign governments and organizations, comes allegations the British Government has spied on various rights groups including the well respected yet often time politically inconvenient Amnesty International.

Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s secretary general said the British government has admitted that its version of the CIA – GCHQ – spied on campaigners at the human rights group.

She said Amnesty had received an email from the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), the organization that polices the UK’s surveillance of citizens, which confirmed the government bugged and intercepted its communications and then stored the details.

“How can we be expected to carry out our crucial work around the world if human rights defenders and victims of abuses can now credibly believe their confidential correspondence with us is likely to end up in the hands of governments,” said Shetty.

“The revelation that the UK government has been spying on Amnesty International highlights the gross inadequacies in the UK’s surveillance legislation. If they hadn’t stored our communications for longer than they were allowed to, we would never even have known. What’s worse, this would have been considered perfectly lawful.”

In June the IPT revealed the Government had illegally spied on two other foreign human rights organizations – breaches of of Article 8, of the European Convention on Human Rights, which is something the UK government is trying to distance itself from after passing laws in May that allow for domestic surveillance.

“After 18 months of litigation and all the denials and subterfuge that entailed, we now have confirmation that we were in fact subjected to UK government mass surveillance,” Shetty said. “It’s outrageous that what has been often presented as being the domain of despotic rulers has been occurring on British soil, by the British government.”

The IPT was set up by Tony Blair in 2000 under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), as a tool against terrorism but since then it has been abused on many occasions including by town and city councils to monitor families to make sure their children were attending the correct school districts, and by police to spy on reporters. There have even been cases of corrupt police finding out information for criminals.

Polls Show Confederate Flag Opinion Has Not Actually Changed Much In 15 Years

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Polls Show Confederate Flag Opinion Has Not Actually Changed Much In 15 Years

Although by reading media reports one would think the issue of the confederate flag is a major debate nationally with most people now in favor of its removal, that is far from the case according to new results of a CNN/ORC poll.

Moves to ban the Confederate Flags and other Confederacy symbols from public places received a lot of media coverage in the weeks following the shooting murder of nine African-American churchgoers in a Charleston church by a white man who was a self declared racist. The gunman 21 year old Dylann Roof had posed with a Confederate flag in on-line photos he had posted with a racist manifesto.

The poll showed public opinion on the issue was the same now as it was 15 years ago with the majority seeing it not as a racist symbol but one of southern pride.

Of those surveyed, 57 per cent viewed the confederate flag as a Southern pride symbol . In 200 that figure was 59 percent . However opinions now varied and were divided by race and education levels.

Of African-Americans polled, 72 percent associated the Confederate flag as a racist symbol while only 25 percent of whites shared that view. In the South, the difference was even wider with 75 percent of whites describing the flag as a symbol of pride and only 18 percent called it a racist symbol. Those figures were nearly reversed among Southern African-Americans, with 75 percent associating it with racism and only 11% seeing it as a pride symbol.

Among whites, opinion is divided by education levels, with those with more formal education seeing the flag as a symbol of racism and the days of slavery. Among whites polled who do not have a college degree, 73 percent said it was a sign of Southern pride and only 18 percent racism. Of those with a college degree 51 percent said it was ‘a symbol of pride, 41% racism.

A majority, 55 percent favored not displaying the Confederate flag on government property, apart from museums and half supported retailers not selling the confederate flag while 47 percent opposed such a move. But a majority opposed redesigning state flags that featured Confederate emblems – 57 percent , renaming streets and highways named after Confederate leaders – 68 percent, and removing memorials and tributes to those that fought on the Confederate side during the civil war – 71 percent.

However the majority of African-Americans surveyed favored the removal of the flag from government property – 73 percent, a ban on sales of the flag – 65 percent , and redesigning state flags that displayed Confederate references – 59 percent.

Although no significant age gaps were revealed in the poll overall on questions about the flag, younger African-Americans were more likely to support some proposals than older ones. African-Americans 54 or younger were more likely than their older peers to support banning Confederate flags from government property – 80 percent compared to 63 percent, the ban of selling confederate flags – 71 percent to 54 percent, and redesigning of state flags to remove Confederacy references – 64 percent v 54 percent.

Most everyone surveyed agreed that the Charleston shootings should be considered a hate crime.

Amnesty International Finds Saudi Led Airstrikes Were Aimed At Civilians

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Amnesty International Finds Saudi Led Airstrikes Were Aimed At Civilians

Saudi Arabia continues to come under fire for human rights abuses, as a new report by human rights advocate Amnesty International has claimed airstrikes in Yemen by Saudi Arabian lead coalition forces showed a pattern of attacks aimed specifically at civilians.

The organization’s Senior Crisis Response Adviser Donatella Rovera, said airstrike research and weapons analysis revealed a failure by the coalition forces to follow requirements of international humanitarian law, leading to significant civilian loss of life.

Amnesty International researchers looked into eight airstrikes in various parts of the Yemen carried out June 12, 13 and 16. In those attacks a total of 54 civilians were killed – 27 children (including a one day old baby) , 11 men and 16 women 16 women – including a one-day-old infant, and 55 civilians were injured – 19 children, 17 mean and 19 women .

Rovera said “International humanitarian law is clear that belligerents must take all possible steps to prevent or minimize civilian casualties. But the cases we have analysed point to a pattern of attacks destroying civilian homes and resulting in scores of civilian deaths and injuries. There is no indication that the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition has done anything to prevent and redress such violations,” she said.

“These eight cases investigated by Amnesty International must be independently and impartially investigated as possible disproportionate or indiscriminate attacks. The findings of any investigation must be made public, and those suspected of responsibility for serious violations of the laws of war must be brought to justice in fair trials. All victims of unlawful attacks and their families should receive full reparation.”

Brigadier-General Ahmed al-‘Assiri, spokesman for the Saudi Arabia-led coalition has denied responsibility for the airstrikes but bomb fragments taken from the rubble of houses destroyed in the airstrikes revealed they came from bombs used by the coalition.

The air strikes were part of a Saudi Arabia lead campaign against Shiite rebels who earlier this years overthrew the Yemeni government which was a key Ally of the US in it’s fight against al Qaeda.

Saudi Arabia Sentences Tourist To 1000 Lashes And Eight Years In Prison For Criticizing Government

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Saudi Arabia Sentences Tourist To 1000 Lashes And Eight Years In Prison For Criticizing Government

The Saudi Arabian court system sent out another strong message today that it would not tolerate freedom of speech or the media by sentencing Pakistani analyst and commentator Zaid Hamid to 1000 lashes and eight years prison.

Hamid has allegedly been an opponent and critic of the Saudi Government but what makes his case stand out and be of major concern is that Hamid is not a Saudi citizen or resident.

He was arrested on June 26 while on a private visit to Saudi Arabia with his wife for allegedly making statements against the Saudi government.

On June 26, the Pakistani Foreign Office confirmed Hamid had been arrested in Saudi Arabia but has not corroborated news of Hamid’s sentencing.

“Our embassy in Riyadh has informed us that Mr Zaid Hamid was arrested about two weeks ago. Since then, the embassy has been working with the local authorities to get consular access,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah.

A former Hamid aide in 2013 accused him of being in the coffers of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, raising the prospect the arrest and sentence are far more militarily motivated than on the surface.

Scientists Push For Change As Five Companies Now Control Virtually All Published Science

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Scientists Push For Change As Five Companies Now Control Virtually All Published Science

What the world learns through published textbooks and journals is controlled by just five companies according to a report published by the Public Library of Science (PLos), a nonprofit organization committed to ensuring scientific and medical literature is freely accessible to the public and scientists.

The study suggests it was time for researchers and scientists to make a move from major for profit publishers.

After analyzing 45 million Web of Science indexed documents, the authors of the study found five groups published more than 50 per cent of all academic papers in 2013. The five were
Sage, Springer, Reed-Elsevier, Wiley-Blackwell, and Taylor & Francis.

Some scientists have been questioning the need a for publishing houses as everything these days could be put onto the web, but it was not public knowledge till the Plos report just how much of academic publishing was by the big five publishers.

About 70 percent of published psychology, chemistry and social science papers were contained in journals owned by the big five and this was only available to those with paid subscriptions. In 1973 that figure was just 20 per cent and in 2006 that figure had grown to 50 per cent.

Only journals dealing with physics have escaped the control of the big five and that may be because there is not much money to be made from the science.

One of the biggest publishers Reed-Elsevier, reported earnings of $1.5 billion just for the first six months of 2014 from its medical, scientific and technical journals .

Recently 15,000 researchers called for a boycott of publishing house Elsevier because of the high cost of subscriptions.

PLos spokesperson Vincent Larivière said “Unfortunately, researchers are still dependent on one essentially symbolic function of publishers, which is to allocate academic capital. Young researchers need to publish in prestigious journals to gain tenure, while older researchers need to do the same in order to keep their grants.”

The study’s authors wrote in their conclusion that it was “tempting” to think of a self-regulated science world with no big publishers charging subscriptions.

“What do we need publishers for? What is it that they provide that is so essential to the scientific community that we collectively agree to devote an increasingly large proportion of our universities budgets to them?” they wrote.

Dubai Creating World’s First Fully Functional 3D Printed Office Building

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Dubai Creating World’s First Fully Functional 3D Printed Office Building

3D printing continues to revolutionize manufacturing and it isn’t just little things like hearing aides, which took under 500 days for the entire industry to switch to 3D, that are using the new manufacturing technique. Plans for the first ever fully workable 3D printed office building have been revealed in Dubai which will be built layer by layer using a 20 foot tall printer.

Plans for the 2000 square foot single story test building were announced by Mohammed Al Gergawi, the United Arab Emirates Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the National Innovation Committee.

No timeline for construction were given although Al Gergawi said the office would house the staff of the Museum of The Future which is to open in 2017.

Chinese 3D-printing firm Winsun Global will carry out most of the work, partnered by other firms including Thornton Tomasetti, Gensler and Syska Hennessy Group.

Winsum Global has used 3D printer technology for large scale buildings previously including a six storey apartment building.

The Dubai office will be assembled from the printer layers onsite and will be reinforced with concrete, plastic and glass fibre. All furniture inside the building will also be 3D printed.

The country hopes to use the information collected during the test to prepare to print a fully 3D printed skyscraper. While pieces of tall building have been 3D printed in the past, Dubai is looking to become the first nation to build a completely 3D printed high-rise sometime in the next five years.

Moscow Calls New U.S. Military Plan “Confrontational” As Relationship Continues To Sour

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Already strained relationships between Russia and the USA dived further today with the Kremlin accusing the US of being confrontational. The statement was a direct reference to a new military strategy announced last week by the Pentagon which would see a build up of U.S. infantry and troops in six NATO countries bordering Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today the strategy would not help improve the White House’s relationship with Moscow.

He said the Pentagon’s choice of language in announcing its plans for Europe, showed “confrontational attitude, devoid of any objectivity towards our country.”

The Pentagon justified its military build up last week by saying Russia had continually showed it doesn’t respect its’ neighbors sovereignty and was willing to use force to achieve its’ plans and goals.

Experts said the Pentagon was referring to Russia’s involvement in Ukraine.

There was no immediate reaction from the Pentagon or the Obama administration to Peskov’s comments today.

Last week U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced the U.S. would be sending M1AK2 tanks, self propelled howitzers and Bradley Infantry Fighting vehicles and a limited number of troops to Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria, Romania and Poland, to reassure NATO allies against “Russia’s aggressive stance and their actions in Ukraine”.

He also said the US will be working closely with NATO’s Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Estonia, to strengthen planning and defense strategies.

There were also reports last week that the Pentagon has secretly been planning an extensive defense network to protect US cities from attacks by Russian cruise missiles.

Latest Survey Finds One In Three Americans Are Gun Owners

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One in every three American adults owns a gun with Alaska having the highest rate of gun ownership at 62 percent, according to a study from New York’s Columbia University.

Study researchers said firearm ownership was tied closely to “social gun culture” where gun owners associated with each other either within families or groups of friends, all thinking less of non gun owners.

Study Lead author Dr. Bindu Kalesan of Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, said “Considering the presence of deeply rooted gun culture and the estimated number of guns in the U.S. to be 310 million, we suspected that social gun culture is associated with gun ownership. This association was strong even after removing the effect of other factors such as presence of gun laws and gun deaths”.

She said compared to other developed countries, civilian gun ownership in the U.S.A. is extremely high.

Data used in the study came from a 2013 online survey which questioned 4,000 people over the age of 18 from throughout the 50 US states and the District of Columbia.

The study found gun ownership rates varied state by state.

Approximately 29 per cent of those surveyed reported owning a gun. The state’s with the lowest gun ownership were Delaware with five per cent and six percent in Rhode Island with 6 percent which fell in with findings that gun ownership was less common in the Northeast.

Kalesen said those wanting to discourage gun ownership should note that the study found universal background checks for purchasing guns and ammunition tended to be the most effective laws in discouraging gun ownership.

More than 50 per cent of people surveyed in Idaho, West Virginia, Wyoming, Arkansas and Montana were gun owners. Alaska headed the list with 62 percent.

Disturbing to the anti gun lobby would be the finding that only 5 percent of gun owners reported using their guns for hunting, and only 10 percent reported having attended gun safety classes.

Kalesan said although US gun ownership is on the decline, sales are up, meaning those who own them are buying more.

Cuban Doctors Eliminate Mother to Baby HIV Transmission

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Cuban Doctors Eliminate Mother to Baby HIV Transmission

Cuba has become the first nation on earth to eliminate HIV and syphilis transmission from mother to baby according to Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO). She said this was a giant step towards an Aids-free generation describing it as “one of the greatest public health achievements possible” .

Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Director Carissa Etienne said Cuba’s achievement “provides inspiration for other countries to advance towards elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.” PAHO partnered with the WHO on the Cuba initiative,

Access to antiretroviral drugs has increased in Caribbean over the last five years as part of regional moves to eliminate mother-to-child HIV and syphilis transmission.

Chan testing for HIV and syphilis amongst pregnant women and their partners, substitution of breastfeeding, and Cesarean deliveries and have also helped break the infection chain.

According to official figures 1.4 million women with HIV become pregnant annually. They have a 15-45% chance of transmitting the virus during pregnancy. This risk lowers to just over 1% if mother and baby receive treatment with antiretrovirals. Who figures show the incidence of HIV has dropped by 50 per cent since 2009.

Experts have said the eradication of Aids, even if there’s no cure, is possible if HIV prevention continues to increase.

Wikipedia Fighting European Push To Ban The Free Use Of Photos Of Public Spaces

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Under European copyright law a well constructed exception allows people to create and make use of photographs of public places with very little restriction. The ‘Freedom of Panorama’ provision allows organizations, such as Wikipedia, to use imagery of European public spaces for free yet still protects the artists’ ownership rights over the images.

Yet the European Parliament, at the behest of big copyright holders, is looking to revoke Freedom of Panorama, prompting the world’s largest encyclopedia to take action.

If the law is scrapped Wikimedia, the images and videos division of Wikipedia, estimates that “tens of thousands” of images displayed in articles about such topics as architecture, art and notable European public spaces will need to be taken down.

The repressive legislation would be a blow not just for Wikipedia, who would be required to do substantial work to become compliant, but also for users of the service who would lose access to much of the public history of Europe, as told through images.

The not for profit group is calling on European citizens to contact their respective members of Parliament and ask them to vote against the proposed measures before they make it into law.

New Study Finds Alzheimer’s Cure May Not be Far Off Thanks To Already Approved Drugs

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The search time for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease may have been reduced significantly following findings that two drugs already licensed and in use have been shown to stop brain degeneration in mice.

Attendees at the Alzheimer’s Society’s annual research conference being held in Manchester, England, heard that the two drugs are already known to be safe and well-tolerated in people – potentially cutting years from the timeline for a medicine to reach Alzheimer patients.

Giovanna Mallucci, a clinical neuroscience professor from the University of Cambridge said: “It’s really exciting. They’re licensed drugs. This means you’d do a straightforward basic clinical trial on a small group of patients because these are not new compounds, they’re known drugs.”

She said scientists and researchers have chosen not to identity the two drugs to prevent Alzheimer’s patients using them before clinical trials to prove their effects in humans were completed. The drugs she said are currently used for non-dementia related diseases.

Before any human trials, scientists said a brain imaging study was crucial to prove the same faulty signal that the two drugs targeted in mice was responsible for degeneration of the neurological system and the memory loss it causes in Alzheimer’s.

“The big, burning question is what is the relevance for human disease.” said Mallucci. If the brain imaging study can take place quickly and if they showed a link, clinical trials could start “in a couple of years”.

Scientists have estimated that delaying the Alzheimer’s by five years would cut the number of deaths from the disease by 50 per cent.

“I have people in my clinics who come in with quality of life and are still able to converse, but over time they become dependent, unable to enjoy the company of their lifetime partners and that’s heartbreaking,” Mallucci said.

“Even delaying progress of Alzheimer’s by 10 years would have a massive effect. You have to re-adjust and understand that slowing Alzheimer’s would change the disease into something completely different and infinitely more acceptable to society.”

Tennessee Latest To See Train Related Chemical Spill As Nearly 5,000 Evacuated Overnight

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The latest incident involving a derailed train car carrying toxic chemicals happened early Thursday, after the train burst into flames and released toxic fumes that forced the evacuation of 5,000 people in a rural Tennessee town authorities confirmed.

Blount County sheriff’s office spokeswoman Marian O’Briant confirmed the incident and said that seven deputies were treated at a local hospital for exposure to the deadly fumes.

In total 12 emergency responders were decontaminated at Blount Memorial Hospital, according to hospital spokesman Josh West who called the procedure “standard” after exposure to toxic chemicals.

The single car was part of a 60-car train carrying acrylonitrile, a chemical used to manufacture plastics, said train operator CSX through spokeswoman Kristin Seay.

The train was traveling from Cincinnati to Waycross, Georgia, when a lone car suddenly veered off the rails in Blount County, just south of Knoxville.

Officials continue to investigate the cause of the crash and have released no further details at present.

The accident is the latest in a number of incidents this year involving rail cars carrying toxic chemicals and will likely bring further pressure for rail operators to upgrade their aging fleets to more robust, double-reinforced, models to prevent disasters.

Fresh Calls For Action On Sugary Drinks After Study Links Them To Deaths

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Fresh Calls For Action On Sugary Drinks After Study Links Them To Deaths

Sugary drinks may be linked to the deaths of 184,000 adults according to a Tufts University study, providing yet more ammunition for states and cities looking to ban the beverages.

Study co-author Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy dean, defined sugary drinks as any that contained at least 50 kcal per 8oz servings. These included sports and energy drinks, sugar-sweetened sodas, sweetened iced teas, fruit drinks, and sugary drinks that could be made at home such as frescas. Those that were 100 per cent fruit juice were not included in the study.

“Many countries in the world have a significant number of deaths occurring from a single dietary factor, sugar-sweetened beverages. It should be a global priority to substantially reduce or eliminate sugar-sweetened beverages from the diet,” he said.

The study looked at 62 dietary surveys taken between 1980 and 2010, from 51 different countries collected from 611,971, as well as data on availability of sugar in 187 countries along with other information.

Study researchers estimated that in 2010 sugary drinks may have been linked to 6, 450 cancer deaths, 45,000 cardiovascular disease deaths, and 133,000 deaths from diabetes.

Impact of sugar-sweetened drinks varied between populations. In Japan, it was estimated less than 1 percent of deaths in people over 65 years of age were linked to sugary drinks, but did for 30 percent of deaths in Mexican adults under 45 years of age. Mexico had the highest linked death with 405 deaths per million adults – 24,000 total deaths. The U.S.A with 125 estimated sugary drink linked deaths per million adults – 25,000 total deaths – ranked second in the world.

In a prepared statement, the American Beverage Association, a soft drink manufacturers trade group said “This study does not show that consuming sugar-sweetened beverages causes chronic diseases and the authors themselves acknowledge that they are at best estimating effects of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption”.

“America’s beverage companies are doing their part to offer consumers the fact-based information and the beverage options they need to make the right choices for themselves and their families,” read the statement.
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Although professor of nutrition and dietetics at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Liz Ruder said it was not clear if sugary drinks caused the deaths outlined in the study since it was not a randomized controlled trial, she believed the finding were correct.

She said “because the authors have employed sophisticated statistical techniques and they have rich food consumption data, I believe that these data are likely to be accurate”.

New Data Shows ISIS Now Has A Stunning 42 Million Supporters In The Arab World

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A new analysis of four polls on Arab public opinion towards the Islamic State (ISIS) reveals that at the low end, the terror group has 8.5 million strong supporters. If those who feel somewhat positively towards the group are counted the number rises to a stunning 42 million people.

The total estimate of support is based on three polls from 2014 and one from March 2015, conducted by various groups and pollsters for each of the 11 countries surveyed (Iraq, Syria, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Libya, Lebanon and Tunisia)

The polls estimate that there are 8,523,803 supporters of the Islamic State and an average of 5.8% support. If the average support level in the surveyed countries extends across the other 11 Arab countries, which have a total population of 370 million, there would be 21,460,000 strong supporters of ISIS in the Arab world overall.

This is both a conservative estimate and also was found to be in line with the November 2014 poll by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Doha, which founds that 85% of Arabs view the Islamic State negatively and 4% view it positively. The 1.8 percent difference can be attributed to the margin of error in each of the polls and/or slight changes in public opinion.

The most pessimistic polls, which include those who view the Islamic State just somewhat positively, show an average of 11.5% of population in the surveyed countries. If this is consistent across the Arab world it would make over 42,550,000 Arabs ISIS supporters.

This result fits with a November 2014 survey which found that an additional 7% are somewhat supportive of ISIS for a total statistic of 11%.

The results indicate that ISIS enjoys both significant support in the Arab world but also has plenty of room to grow, a worrying trend given the speed at which they have risen to prominence.

Court Finds Apple Guilty Of Conspiring To Illegally Set E-Book Prices

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The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has found that Apple, in a conspiracy with five publishers, tried to rip of customers of e-books by illegally fixing prices.

By a 2-1 decision, the Court upheld a judge’s ruling that in conspiring with the five publishers to increase e-book prices, Apple had broken federal antitrust laws, and that the original ruling by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan, was the correct one.

Two years ago Judge Cotes had handed down an injunction to prevent further price rise fixes .

Unless Apple launches another appeal, it will have to pay $450 million to consumers under a 2014 class action settlement with lawyers and 33 state attorneys generals. The settlement was contingent on the company’s civil liability being upheld.

In a released statement, Apple said “We know we did nothing wrong back — and are assessing next steps”.

Circuit Judge Debra Ann Livingston in writing for the majority called Apple’s actions had “unreasonably restrained trade” .

“The district court did not err in concluding that Apple was more than an innocent bystander,” she wrote.

Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer said the decision “confirms that it is unlawful for a company to knowingly participate in a price-fixing conspiracy, whatever its specific role in the conspiracy or reason for joining it.”

The price fixing agreements between Apple and the publishers saw some e-book prices raised to $12.99 and $14.99 from a $9.99 price charged by Amazon.com.

In his opposing opinion, U.S. Circuit Judge Dennis Jacobs said he believed Apple’s behavior was pro-competitive in taking on Amazon, which held 90 per cent of the market.

“Apple took steps to compete with a monopolist and open the market to more entrants, generating only minor competitive restraints in the process,” he wrote.

The publishers include News Corp’s HarperCollins Publishers LLC, Lagardere SCA’s Hachette Book Group Inc, CBS Corp’s Simon & Schuster Inc, Penguin Group Inc, and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH’s Macmillan.

Boston University School of Law Professor Keith Hylton said Tuesday’s ruling supported an “expansive view” of the law by letting Apple be held responsible under standards which were less-stringent than those it advocated. He said Judge Jacop’s pro-competitive stance “endorses a concept of marketplace vigilantism that is wholly foreign to the antitrust laws”.

“The DOJ could feel emboldened in pursuing those cases with this theory of conspiracy,” he said.

European Net Neutrality Law Found Riddled With Loopholes And Vague Language

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Digital rights activists are calling proposed European Union (EU) rules on net neutrality seriously flawed after they were made public on Tuesday. The groups take issue with vagueness of the language used and the presence of significant loopholes that would allow the rules to avoided.

The rules, although banning providers from blocking or doctoring internet speeds, allow the management of internet traffic in cases of “temporary or exceptional congestion”, but they do not explain what “temporary” or “exceptional” means.

Dutch Member of the European Parliament (EP) Marietje Schaake has demanded “clearer language that unequivocally safeguards net neutrality in Europe and the compromise reached is a watered down version of the strong ambitions of the European Parliament.”

“We need to make sure Europe can lead in safeguarding the open internet, fostering innovation, and ensuring fair competition in the digital single market,” she said.

Digital rights activists say they fear the use of vague language to describe specialized services will mean there will be a two-tier internet of fast lanes and slow lanes.

Digital rights group Access spokesperson Estelle Massé said “EU institutions have agreed on a contradictory text that does not deliver net neutrality”.

“With rules protecting access to the internet and others handing over the future of the internet to telcos, it will be up to courts to decide whose interests prevail.”

Computer and Communications Industry Association spokesperson James Waterworth, said the news law are open interpretation.

“The agreement is right to allow for traffic management and specialised services, but also right to prohibit discrimination and ensure that traffic is treated in a non-discriminatory manner.

However, the rules will only be worth something if effectively supervised by national telecoms regulators. This will be the critical next step,” he said.

Tim Wu, the inventor of net neutrality as a concept, said it if there was a two-tier system, the only ones who would benefit would be the big U.S. internet giants.

The Director of the European digital rights group EDRi, Joe McNamee said “What is the point of agreeing to adopt legislation that makes the legal situation less clear than it was before? Now we have text which could mean almost anything.”

The only silver cloud for those opposed to the proposed rules was that to-date, only the core text of the law had been agreed to and that a full precise explanation to its meaning could come with the yet to be finalized explanatory notes.

Once that happens the Telecoms Single Market regulation will have to be officially approved by the EP .

Palestinians Edge Closer To Extinction As ISIS Joins Israel In War On Gaza

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Palestinians Edge Closer To Extinction As ISIS Joins Israel In War On Gaza

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) terror group has threatened the Palestinian armed group Hamas, in what may be the final blow to the Palestinian people.

On Wednesday the terror group released a 16 minute long video on social media where fighters based in Syria’s Aleppo province condemned Hamas for its crackdown on ISIS-supported groups in the Gaza Strip. The video also took issue with the Palestinian interpretation of Islamic law, which the group deemed not strict enough.

“The point of jihad is not to liberate land … but jihad as defined by God, is fighting for and implementing the law of God,” said one masked fighter who appeared in the video, who went on to criticize Hamas for dealing with “secularist”, “communist” and “nationalist” factions.

“They raise their children to respect this (Palestinian) flag,” the fighter said, warning Palestinians that Hamas was unable to secure them their freedom.

“The road to liberate Palestine goes through Iraq and we (ISIS) are getting closer, day by day … while they (Hamas) are moving away from that goal.”

Yet the end result of an ISIS offensive against Hamas would likely be the hastened extermination of the Palestinian people. Israel, already mid-way through the process, uses every opportunity it can to indiscriminately bomb Palestinians, as we’ve documented here and here.

As we reported here, Israel has a firm policy of punishing Palestinian civilians for attacks that occur within its territory, regardless of who conducts them. The fragile nation has already seen such attacks, launched by ISIS supporters, result in swift and severe counter-attacks by Israel’s mighty armed forces.

If ISIS were to wage a war on Israel it would merely trigger an overwhelming military response that would once and for all wipe Palestine off the map.

Hamas and senior Palestinian officials know this, which is why they clamped down hard on alleged supporters of ISIS in recent months, following ISIS-sponsored attacks against Israel launched from Palestinian territory.

If the terror group establishes a foothold in Gaza it would likely mean the demise of a people.

Tens Of Thousands March In Hong Kong Against Chinese Rule

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Hong Kong saw more demonstrations over Chinese control of the prosperous financial hub as tens of thousands of protesters marched on Wednesday for full democracy, free of Chinese interference. The protesters also called on the Chinese-controlled city’s leader to resign even after elected officials voted down an electoral reform package sponsored by China.

An estimated 48,000 marched on the anniversary of Hong Kong’s return from British to Chinese rule in 1997, well below last year’s protest of more than half a million people.

“I want real universal suffrage” the crowds screamed while holding yellow umbrellas, an icon of the “Umbrella Movement” last year that saw protesters blocking major roads to pressure China to allow direct elections in 2017.

“Hong Kong people have been through a lot and they’ve mobilized massively over the past few years,” said Johnson Yeung, of Civil Human Rights Front, who organized the march.

“So after the veto, it’s quite natural for them to want to take a rest.”

Also present at the march were pro-Beijing groups who hurled insults from the sidelines while police attempted to separate the two sides.

The full diversity of opinions on the issue was on display with some activists calling for a “Hong Kong nation”, while others waved colonial-era flags featuring a British Union Jack.

“Remake the future of our city. Build a democratic Hong Kong,” one protester shouted.

The march comes nearly two weeks after Hong Kong’s legislature vetoed a Beijing-approved electoral reform package that would have allowed a direct vote for Hong Kong’s next leader in 2017, but only from among pre-approved, pro-Beijing candidates. The proposal was swiftly and loudly denounced as “fake” democracy by residents.

Hong Kong returned to Chinese control under a “one country, two systems” promise that granted the city western-style freedoms denied on the mainland, such as the freedom to protest.

Arson Experts Join Case As Another Southern Church Burns To The Ground

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Arson experts have joined law enforcement officials in trying to find the cause of a fire that yesterday destroyed the famous Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Greeleyville, South Carolina.

Two Ku Klux Klan members set fire to the church’s original structure in 1995, a year that saw 30 fires destroy black churches in Southern states. A year later, when the current church was dedicated, President Clinton called for racial unity during a visit to the town.

Early this morning investigators began sifting through the church’s smoldering remains looking for clues on how the fire which left behind only the exterior brick walls, started.

Five Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents are on the scene, working alongside the local sheriff’ s office, local and state police, the sheriff’s office and state police, and firefighters who responded to the fire.

Tom Mangan, an ATF Special Agent at the scene, said “Anytime there is a house of worship involved in a fire, ATF is automatically assigned to look into the cause.”

ATF arson specialist Nero Priester said a sniffer dog would be used as soon as embers cooled down.

With memories of the racist inspired killings of nine black parishioners at a church in Charleston, just 75 miles south of Greeleyville, still fresh, conspiracy theories on the cause of the fire abound, especially as there have been six other African American churches destroyed by fire since then.

Although investigators have said nothing points to the fires being hate crimes, nor being linked, two of them may have been the result of arson.

The religious targets of the majority of recent hate crimes in southern states have been synagogues and mosques.

A National Fire Protection Association report is 2013 showed there have been more than 1,700 fires at religious building s between 2007 and 2011, with approximately 16 per cent the result of arson.

Bitcoin Interest Skyrockets In Wake of Greek Financial Crisis

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Bitcoin Interest Skyrockets In Wake of Greek Financial Crisis

As the Greek financial crisis continues bringing down the value of stock prices and the euro world wide, use and interest in digital currency bitcoin has skyrocketed.

Bitcoin companies internationally are reporting huge spikes in numbers of new users and although all are not necessarily from Greece, experts say the Greek financial situation is no doubt the contributing factor to the increase.

Interest in cryptocurrency was growing in other EU nations such as Spain and Italy who are also facing financial problems similar to Greece, with debt repayment problems and poor economies,

Oliver Flaskaemper, CEO of German based Bitcoin.de, said the number of Greeks registering to trade bitcoins has risen ten fold. Slovenia based Bitstamp, the world’s third largest bitcoin exchange, has report trades from Greece are up 79 per cent.

There has also been a 40 per cent increase by Greeks on Chinese bitcoin exchange LakeBTC, and Polish exchange Bitcurex reports being “flooded” with inquiries from Greece. Bitcurex wasted no time jumping on the Greek financial bandwagon, launching an advertising campaign under the slogan of “No Fees for Greece!”

However financial experts say that although the use of bitcoins in Greece has increased dramatically, it is limited because there is no ready access to bitcoins in the country, there are technology constraints, and there is only one Greek Bitcoin exchange and one bitcoin ATM in the whole country. Therefore most Greeks are concentrating on getting access to Euro notes to cover their daily needs.

Thanos Marinos, founder of BTCGreece, the sole bitcoin exchange in Greece, said although there have been massive increases in activity at the exchange, most Greek were unprepared for what has happened to the economy. He said although the threat of a Greek financial collapse had been played out for a long time, people were in shock as they never really expected or believed banks would shut or that the threat of being left out of the Eurozone and the euro was a real one.

In other EU nations such as Spain and Italy who are also facing financial problems with debt payment and poor economies interest in cryptocurrency is growing.

Australian Government Latest To Face Lawsuit Over Climate Change Inaction

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Australian environmentalists plan to sue their government for its slow response to climate change, following legal action taken in the Netherlands that resulted in a landmark court decision which ordered its government to hurry up and cut greenhouse emission. The legal action was taken by Dutch environmental group Urgenda.

Climate change has been a major political issue in Australia for some time, especially after the present Government headed by Prime Minister Tony Abbott last year repealed a carbon tax that was introduced in 2011. The carbon tax was intended to reduce the impact of climate change and according to experts had been successful.

Ariane Wilkinson a spokesman for legal firm Environmental Justice Australia, said her firm had “several clients” that were “very concerned about Government inaction on climate change” and were interested in using the justice system to force the Government to take measures to stop “dangerous climate change” .

A 2014 Australian Bureau of Meteorology report on climate change, noted several key concerns including a dramatic increase in Australia’s temperatures and increases in floods, droughts and bush fires, all linked to climate change.

Expert say that since the beginning of the 20th century the country has experienced an annual increase of one degree Celsius, with climate warming over the last 50 years taking place at twice the rate than in the previous 50 years.

A Urgenda spokesman said the Dutch decision would have a global Domino effect beginning with plans by environmental lawyers in Melbourne to take action against the Australian Government for dragging its heels in introducing legislation to counter climate change.

The Dutch and Australians aren’t the only one suing their governments, as a group of tiny South Pacific islands are also suing major polluters due to the effects of climate change, effectively creating a new legal model to attack polluters – including governments themselves. Sun Chair on the Beach

Despite Political Theater, NSA Domestic Spying Program Continues Full Steam Ahead

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If you thought the USA Freedom Act and the elaborate show of politics last month around the expiry of key Patriot Act provisions that allowed the NSA to collect the phone records of every American citizen meant an end to the program, you were sorely wrong.

As we pointed out on May 31st, the show of political theater will in reality change nothing and it turns out proof has emerged that this is exactly what has happened.

Why?

Because on Monday, the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) ruled that the NSA can continue to collect and store records until a 180-day transition period ends.

The USA Freedom Act, which is theory will rein in the level of surveillance by forcing telecom companies to store the NSA’s data and then make the agency apply for the information, doesn’t take effect until 180 days after the legislation was signed.

“After considering the views of amici, the court held that the continuation of the NSA’s bulk telephony metadata program during the transition period remains consistent with both the statute and the Fourth Amendment,” the Department of Justice said in a statement.

“The court’s new primary order requires that during the transition period, absent a true emergency, telephony metadata can only be queried after a judicial finding that there is a reasonable, articulable suspicion that the selection term is associated with an approved international terrorist organization.”

While the classified FISC ruling only allows the NSA to collect data from two hops instead of three, essentially allowing them to track who made the call, and anyone the call recipient contacts, the net real effect is that its business as usual for the NSA.

As we pointed out previously, with billions of dollars spent on the most sophisticated data processing systems the world has ever known, the NSA will not stop spying on American citizens until the organization is completely audited and, more importantly, de-funded.

In what is surely a publicity stunt, the U.S. government promises that if it thinks the secret FISC decision decision doesn’t compromise national security the Office of the Director of National Intelligence will publish the ruling on his Tumblr page.

U.S. And Cuba To Re-Open Embassies In Latest Push To Normalize Relations

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U.S. And Cuba To Re-Open Embassies In Latest Push To Normalize Relations

On Wednesday The United States and Cuba plan to make history as they officially resume diplomatic ties with the reopening of embassies in Washington and Havana. The move will mark the first time in over half a century that the two countries will have functioning embassies in each other’s country.

“We will formally announce tomorrow that the United States and Cuba have reached an agreement to re-establish formal diplomatic relations and open embassies in each other’s capitals,” a senior Obama aid said. “We expect President Obama and Secretary Kerry to address this publicly tomorrow morning.”

The re-opening of embassies marks the final step in President Barack Obama’s push, initiated last December, to normalize relations between the once friendly nations. The latest moves follow the loosening of some travel restrictions to Cuba and some preliminary new economic ties.

President Obama met with de-facto leader Raul Castro in April at a summit meeting in Panama, the first time the heads of state of each country had met in over 50 years.

Earlier in June the Obama administration officially removed Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terror, in a move widely regarded as eliminating the remaining obstacle to the diplomatic renewal.

While the United States has not had an official embassy in Havana, it does have a so-called “Interests Section” which occupies the same building as the American embassy prior to the severing of diplomatic ties after the Cuban Revolution in the 1950s. Situated on the Havana waterfront, the American embassy will occupy the same building according to White House officials.

UN Finds South Sudan Army Raped Then Burned Girls Alive In Brutal New Campaign

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Atrocities virtually beyond human comprehension have been committed by South Sudan’s army according to a United Nations (UN) report released today.

The report said young girls were raped and then burned alive during an army campaign described as being new in “brutality and intensity.”

UN mission in the Republic of South Sudan investigators (Unmiss) cited “widespread human rights abuses”, which included gang-rape and torture.

The UN report was based on 115 victim and eyewitnesses interviews. All incidents took place in South Sudan’s northern state of Unity which has seen the heaviest fighting in the civil war which has been raging for 18-months.

“Some of the most disturbing allegations compiled by Unmiss human rights officers focused on the abduction and sexual abuse of women and girls, some of whom were reportedly burned alive in their dwellings.” read the report.

At least nine separate incidents showed “women and girls were burned in tukuls (huts) after being gang-raped” as well as many cases or rape of mothers in front of their children. One eyewitness reported “government forces gang-raping a lactating mother after tossing her baby aside”, while another described troops making a woman hold “burning-red coals” when they questioned her on the whereabouts of cattle and “rebels” .

There has been no comment from the South Sudanese army which in the past has denied allegations of abuse.

The UN report has been given to government officials, who had yet to comment on its findings.

UNmiss investigators have attempted to get to the sites of the atrocities but were turned back by the army.

Ellen Margrethe Loej, Unmiss head chief called for “unfettered access” .

“Revealing the truth of what happened offers the best hope for ensuring accountability for such terrible violence and ending the cycle of impunity that allows these abuses to continue,” she said.

Rebel forces have also been accused of killings, rape and using child soldiers.

Unicef, the UN children’s agency, released a report recently which said warring factions had castrated, raped and killed children, further condemning the ruling regime.

Russia To Review 1991 Decision To Recognize Independence Of Baltic States

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In yet another troubling move for world peace, Russia is reviewing its 1991 decision to recognize the Baltic states as independent, according to Russia’s state news service. NATO is responding to the potential danger.

The decision to evaluate  the recognition of the Baltic nations’ independence comes after the Prosecutor General’s Office ruled that Crimea was given to the Ukraine illegally in 1954. This will likely concern the countries of  Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

NATO has held several meetings over the past months to address the threat Russia poses and to let the Baltic countries know that NATO will come to their aid. Poland and Lithuania confirmed in June that U.S. warehouses of military weapons in the Baltic states were being deliberated.

NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Phillip M. Breedlove said during time in Lithuania that Russia’s actions were dangerous. “We cannot fully be certain what Russia will do next,” he said, “and we cannot fully grasp Putin’s intent but what we can and are doing is learning from his actions. In addition what we see suggests growing Russian capabilities, significant military modernisation and ambitious strategic intent.”

He also said, “In the east, Russia is blatantly attempting to change the rules and principles that have been the foundation of European security for decades. This challenge that’s posed by resurgent Russia is global, not regional, and is enduring, not temporary.”

A set of important NATO military drills have been led by the U.S. in eastern Europe during 2015, including thousands of American, British, and other allied troops.

Pentagon officials unveiled a plan in June to place battle tanks, significant weapons, and around 5,000 troops to the area to address the possible threat Russia poses to the Ukraine and NATO member states.

The concern over Russia’s re-evaluation of the Baltic states’ independence has led Washington to station major military equipment in NATO states for the first time.

High Blood Pressure In Your 20s Shown To Cause Heart Issues Later In Life

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New research from Johns Hopkins has demonstrated that young people with higher blood pressure levels are at increased risk of heart failure by the age of 50.  The new research showed that blood pressure readings of people in their 20s with a higher range than normal were connected to heart weaknesses in middle age. This suggests that the best option is to stop hypertension early to avoid heart failure later.

Dr. Joao Lima of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and senior author, said, “Our findings provide further support for the importance of good risk factor control early in life.”

He said in a release that, “Many participants were not hypertensive at the beginning of the study; however, chronic exposure to higher blood pressure, even within what is considered the normal range, is associated with cardiac dysfunction 25 years later.”

Research began in 1985 by following 2479 men and women from ages 18 to 30, and checking their blood pressure seven times over 25 years.

The  “cumulative blood pressure exposure” was calculated by multiplying systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure (between beats) at each of the seven checkups by the year they were measured. Healthy blood pressure in adults should be less than 120 over 80 millimeters, and high is  140 over 90 or more.

At the end of the study the researchers used to observe the shape and function of the participants’ hearts.

Using echocardiographs, the study concluded that, by the age of 50, 135 of the subjects had left ventricle dysfunction, synonymous with weak hearts. According to the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, those whose blood pressure was higher at an earlier age were more likely to have this problem than those with lower blood pressure. High blood pressure also caused scarring and thicker blood, making it harder for the heart to pump.

Doctors recommend watching blood pressure early in life to avoid risks of heart problems and failure later in life.

Sony Announces Turnaround Plan That Will Mean End Of Its Iconic Consumer Electronic Brand

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Iconic TV maker Sony Corp is stepping back from producing its namesake consumer electronics and is, instead, raising approximately $4 billion in shares and bonds to become a component producer, in a much smaller niche: sensors.

Sony has not issued a new share in 26 years, and representatives of the company said on Tuesday that they will raise $2.62 billion from stock sales thanks to a doubling in market value. They expect to raise more from convertible bonds, which they will use to upgrade sensor output at its Japanese plants.

Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai is preparing Sony’s sensor business for the change. The company has not fared as well in consumer goods such as mobile phones, where tough competition from Samsung and Apple have left the company with little market share.

The image sensors are an important part of digital cameras and phones, and are one of Sony’s best products next to PlayStation. The production of these devices helped the company offset a decline in sales of other products.

The shift was a surprise for investors, who were afraid new stock would plummet. Yet the market value has risen, doubling since June of 2014, reaching almost $35 billion.

In a statement on the announcement, Sony said that “in addition to securing funds for active and concentrated investment in businesses that are driving growth. Sony … aims to secure its ability to make future further investment.”

Making sensors will require more money, and Sony has already made expensive changes to pursue the lucrative market.

Despite the drop in share price, Takatoshi Itoshima, chief portfolio manager at Commons Asset Management, said that long-term investors felt good about the change.

“It’s positive that it is investing in the sensor business which is seen promising,” said Itoshima. “But short-term investors may question the strength of its balance sheet, or wonder whether the company could’ve slashed more of its businesses before raising money from the market.”

Sony’s switch from its consumer goods to sensor development will begin as soon as enough money is raised to help the company recover from its losses.

Once Mighty University Of Phoenix Announces Restructuring Plan To Rise From The Ashes

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Once synonymous with the idea of online education the University of Phoenix, struggling with sagging profits and low enrollment, announced on Tuesday it will be removing most of its associate programs, closing many physical locations, and setting admission requirements for the first time in its history in an effort to remain a viable business.

The move comes after the closure of other for-profit education companies that have increasingly come under fire for high drop out rates, expensive tuition and bleak job prospects for graduates.

In 2010, the school enrolled 460,000 students, and approximately 150,000 will be left by 2016 due to the changes. Pheonix’s enrollment rates have been falling steadily, and the plans were announced on Monday by the Apollo Education Group, Phoenix’s parent.

Apollo announced that it purchased controlling interest in a coding boot camp called the Iron Yard, that offers training (but not degrees). Kaplan Inc. bought another company last year called Dev Bootcamp. These programs do not received federal student funding, but are becoming more popular.

The adjustments were arranged in order to address retention issues at the schools, said Gregory W. Cappelli, Apollo’s chief executive. These problems have been constant since an associate-level college was created.

The growth of online education and colossal marketing budgets boosted enrollments significantly at the university, but graduation rates fell and student have defaulted on their loans. Cappelli said that other changes over the years, such as orientations, had solved some issues. They were not enough to help the quality of the school’s academics, however, and that injured profits.

Cappelli said the goal was to improve the school overall, and “its brand, its reputation, its ability to recruit at a lower cost.” He also hoped the alterations would help the political and regulatory pressures that Phoenix has dealt with due to scrutiny against for-profit colleges.

A few associate career programs will stay, but Phoenix and Apollo will increase certificate programs, “some of which stack into degrees,” said Cappelli. Which campuses will close has not been announced, but he hopes major metro areas will still have locations.

Despite the evolution in online learning, Phoenix and its parent group will make these significant changes to address poor graduation and retention rates.

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