Amazon Hikes Prime to $119 per Year in U.S.

Amazon will increase the annual cost of Prime for U.S. customers to $119 per year, up 20% from $99 currently — news coming after it blew the doors off revenue and profit expectations in the first quarter.

The price increase will take effect starting June 16 for existing Prime customers based on their renewal period, CFO Brian Olsavsky said on Amazon’s first-quarter 2018 earnings call. New members will pay the $119 price starting May 11. The company last raised the price of Prime in the U.S. in March 2014.

Asked on the call why Amazon was raising rates now, Olsavsky cited rising costs because of higher shipping expenses and spending on digital content. “It’s really nothing more than looking at the state of the program, and the high benefits it’s delivering,” he said. “There’s all kinds of new features we’ve continually added to the Prime program. It’s much different than it was in 2014.”

Four years ago, Prime offered free two-day shipping on 20 million products in the U.S., Olsavsky noted. Today Amazon offers more than 100 million products in Prime available within two days, and many are available even faster than that — with same-day or two-hour delivery.

Last week, CEO Jeff Bezos announced in his annual letter to investors that Amazon had surpassed 100 million members worldwide for Prime. That was the first time the company had ever provided a specific Prime number. Amazon still doesn’t break out how many Prime members it has in the U.S. or in other territories.

Prime members receive free shipping of two days or less on more than 100 million products, as well as access to Prime Video and Prime Music streaming, Prime Reading ebooks and other titles, and other perks. For example, Prime members can now earn 5% cash back on purchases at Whole Foods Market when using the Amazon PrimeRewards Visa Card from Chase. Amazon acquired Whole Foods for $13.7 billion last year.

In addition to higher shipping costs for Prime, the company has been continuing to spend heavily on original programming for Prime Video. The company on Thursday renewed its deal with the NFL for “Thursday Night Football” live-streaming games for the 2018-19 seasons. In the first quarter, Amazon Studios greenlit series including “Cortés” from executive producers Steven Spielberg and Steven Zaillian and starring Javier Bardem, and “Utopia,” a series written by “Gone Girl” author Gillian Flynn. Amazon last year won the rights to a multi-season adaption of “Lord of the Rings,” its most expensive and ambitious original production to date.

Earlier this year, Amazon hiked the price of the monthly Prime plan in the U.S., from $10.99 to $12.99 per month. Amazon also offers a standalone Prime Video subscription option, which — for now — will remain at $8.99 per month.

Meanwhile, Amazon still offers a discount to students. The company will keep that unchanged at $59 per year for an annual Prime Student membership.

Amazon announced the U.S. price hike for Prime’s annual plan after smashing Wall Street expectations for Q1. It reported $51.0 billion in sales and net income of $1.63 billion — more than double the year-earlier period — sending shares to record highs in after-market trading.

EU agrees total ban on bee-harming pesticide

The European Union will ban the world’s most widely used insecticides from all fields due to the serious danger they pose to bees.

The ban on neonicotinoids, approved by member nations on Friday, is expected to come into force by the end of 2018 and will mean they can only be used in closed greenhouses.

Bees and other insects are vital for global food production as they pollinate three-quarters of all crops. The plummeting numbers of pollinators in recent years has been blamed, in part, on the widespread use of pesticides. The EU banned the use of neonicotinoids on flowering crops that attract bees, such as oil seed rape, in 2013.

But in February, a major report from the European Union’s scientific risk assessors(Efsa) concluded that the high risk to both honeybees and wild bees resulted from any outdoor use, because the pesticides contaminate soil and water. This leads to the pesticides appearing in wildflowers or succeeding crops. A recent study of honey samples revealed global contamination by neonicotinoids.

Vytenis Andriukaitis, European commissioner for Health and Food Safety, welcomed Friday’s vote: “The commission had proposed these measures months ago, on the basis of the scientific advice from Efsa. Bee health remains of paramount importance for me since it concerns biodiversity, food production and the environment.”

The ban on the three main neonicotinoids has widespread public support, with almost 5 million people signing a petition from campaign group Avaaz. “Banning these toxic pesticides is a beacon of hope for bees,” said Antonia Staats at Avaaz. “Finally, our governments are listening to their citizens, the scientific evidence and farmers who know that bees can’t live with these chemicals and we can’t live without bees.”

Martin Dermine, at Pesticide Action Network Europe, said: “Authorising neonicotinoids a quarter of a century ago was a mistake and led to an environmental disaster. Today’s vote is historic.”

However, the pesticide manufacturers and some farming groups have accused the EU of being overly cautious and suggested crop yields could fall, a claim rejected by others. “European agriculture will suffer as a result of this decision,” said Graeme Taylor, at the European Crop Protection Association. “Perhaps not today, perhaps not tomorrow, but in time decision makers will see the clear impact of removing a vital tool for farmers.”

The UK’s National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said the ban was regrettable and not justified by the evidence. Guy Smith, NFU deputy president, said: “The pest problems that neonicotinoids helped farmers tackle have not gone away. There is a real risk that these restrictions will do nothing measurable to improve bee health, while compromising the effectiveness of crop protection.”

A spokesman for the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs welcomed the ban, but added: “We recognise the impact a ban will have on farmers and will continue to work with them to explore alternative approaches.” In November, UK environment secretary Michael Gove overturned the UK’s previous opposition to a full outdoor ban.

Neonicotinoids, which are nerve agents, have been shown to cause a wide range of harm to individual bees, such as damaging memory and reducing queen numbers. 

But this evidence has strengthened recently to show damage to colonies of bees. Other research has also revealed that 75% of all flying insects have disappeared in Germany and probably much further afield, prompting warnings of “ecological armageddon”.

Prof Dave Goulson, at the University of Sussex, said the EU ban was logical given the weight of evidence but that disease and lack of flowery habitats were also harming bees. “Also, if these neonicotinoids are simply replaced by other similar compounds, then we will simply be going round in circles. What is needed is a move towards truly sustainable farming,” he said.

Some experts are worried that the exemption for greenhouses means neonicotinoids will be washed out into water courses, where they can severely harm aquatic life.

Prof Jeroen van der Sluijs, at the University of Bergen, Norway, said neonicotinoids will also continue to be used in flea treatments for pets and in stables and animal transport vehicles, which account for about a third of all uses: “Environmental pollution will continue.”

The EU decision could have global ramifications, according to Prof Nigel Raine, at the University of Guelph in Canada: “Policy makers in other jurisdictions will be paying close attention to these decisions. We rely on both farmers and pollinators for the food we eat. Pesticide regulation is a balancing act between unintended consequences of their use for non-target organisms, including pollinators, and giving farmers the tools they need to control crop pests.”

In Wuhan, PM Narendra Modi lists out 5 common elements for closer Indo-China relations

"This is not just an informal meeting but a historic meeting. Our two countries can work together for the benefit of 40% of world's population."

Thanking Chinese President Xi Jinping for a warm welcome, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday highlighted the need for India and China to work closely for the benefit of world's 40% population. He also listed out five common elements which could bind both nations closely in the times to come.

PM Modi is here on an 'informal meeting' with Xi - a visit that comes on the backdrop of tensions caused primarily by the Doklam standoff and Beijing's growing ties with Pakistan. PM Modi though said that the bond that India and China have shared is one that has existed for centuries and one that will give direction to the world in the times to come. "This is not just an informal meeting but a historic meeting as well. Both our countries have shared close ties since ancient times. It is time we build on those ties for the benefit of world's 40% population," he told Xi. "I have observed that there are five common elements that can bind India and China together. They are common thinking, common relations, common co-operation, common aspirations and common dreams."

While also inviting Xi to India, PM Modi emphasised that people-to-people contact between the two countries can ensure long-lasting peace and mutual respect. 

At historic meeting, Korean leaders eye end of war and 'complete denuclearisation'

It is the first time since the 1950s that a North Korean leader stepped on South territory, and a South Korean leader stepped into the North.

The leaders of North and South Korea embraced on Friday after pledging to work for the "complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula", on a day of smiles and handshakes at the first inter-Korean summit in more than a decade.

The two Koreas announced they would work with the United States and China this year to declare an official end to the 1950s Korean War and seek an agreement to establish "permanent" and "solid" peace.

The declaration included promises to pursue phased arms reduction, cease hostile acts, transform their fortified border into a peace zone and seek multilateral talks with other countries including the United States.


"The two leaders declare before our people of 80 million and the entire world there will be no more war on the Korean peninsula and a new age of peace has begun," the two sides.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed to visit the North Korean capital of Pyongyang this year, they said.

Earlier, North Korea`s Kim Jong Un became the first North Korean leader since the 1950-53 Korean War to set foot in South Korea after shaking hands with his counterpart over a concrete curb marking the border in the heavily fortified demilitarised zone.

Scenes of Moon and Kim joking and walking together marked a striking contrast to last year`s barrage of North Korean missile tests and its largest ever nuclear test that led to sweeping international sanctions and fears of war.

Their meeting comes weeks before Kim is due to meet US President Donald Trump in what would be the first ever meeting between sitting leaders of the two countries.

Trump welcomed the Korean talks.

"After a furious year of missile launches and Nuclear testing, a historic meeting between North and South Korea is now taking place. Good things are happening, but only time will tell!" he said on Twitter.

He later added: "KOREAN WAR TO END! The United States, and all of its GREAT people, should be very proud of what is now taking place in Korea!"

China welcomed the leaders' statement and said it was willing to keep playing a proactive role in promoting political solutions on the peninsula.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also welcomed the summit and said he expected North Korea to take concrete steps to carry out its promises.

Global markets were lifted by hopes the summit would pave the way for the end of conflict on the Korean peninsula. Shares in Seoul briefly rose more than 1 percent to a one-month high and Japan`s Nikkei share average also gained.

`BALL IN US COURT`

As part of efforts to reduce tension, the two sides agreed to open a liaison office, stop propaganda broadcasts and leaflet drops along the border and allow Korean families divided by the border to meet.

Days before the summit, Kim said North Korea would suspend nuclear and long-range missile tests and dismantle its only known nuclear test site.

But there has been widespread scepticism about whether Kim is ready to abandon the nuclear arsenal his country has developed for decades, justifying it as a necessary deterrent against US invasion.

"Everything will not be resolved in the blink of an eye," said Kim Young-hee, a North Korean defector-turned-economist at the Korea Development Bank.

"Kim Jong Un has put the ball in the US court. He declared denuclearistion, and promised to halt nuclear tests," she said. "That tells us he wants the United States to guarantee the safety of his regime ... in return for denuclearisation."

It is not the first time leaders of North and South Korea have declared hopes for peace. Two earlier summits, in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007, failed to halt the North`s weapons programmes or improve relations in a lasting way.

"We will make efforts to create good results by communicating closely, in order to make sure our agreement signed today before the entire world, will not end as just a beginning like previous agreements before today," Kim said after the agreement was signed.

FIRST ACROSS THE LINE

Earlier, Moon greeted Kim at the military demarcation line where the men smiled and shook hands.

In an unplanned move, Kim invited Moon to step briefly across into North Korea, before the two leaders crossed back into South Korea holding hands.

"I was excited to meet at this historic place and it is really moving that you came all the way to the demarcation line to greet me in person," Kim said, wearing his customary black Mao suit.

"A new history starts now. An age of peace, from the starting point of history," Kim wrote in Korean in a guest book in the South's Peace House before talks began.

During a private meeting in the morning, Kim told Moon he came to the summit to end the history of conflict and joked he was sorry for waking Moon up with his early morning missile tests, a senior presidential official said.

Moon and Kim released their joint declaration before attending a dinner banquet.

The United States was hopeful talks would make progress on achieving peace and prosperity, the White House said in a statement as the two men began their summit.

The White House also said it looked forward to continuing discussions with South Korea in preparation for the planned meeting of Trump and Kim in coming weeks.

Just months ago, Trump and Kim were trading threats and insults as the North made rapid advances in pursuit of nuclear-armed missiles capable of hitting the United States.

The United States stations 28,500 troops in South Korea as a legacy of the Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The war pitted the South, UN and US forces against the communist North, backed by China and Russia.

Kim and Trump are expected to meet in late May or June. Trump said on Thursday he was considering several dates and venues.

The Crimea Of 1958 (22 Pics)

3D Portraits Made Out Of Screws By Andrew Myers (13 Pics)

15 Common Symptoms of a Stroke

A stroke or cerebrovascular accident (CVA) is a scary experience. It occurs when the blood supply to the brain is impeded or cut off completely due to lack of blood flow (or ischemia), blockage (thrombosis, arterial embolism), or a brain hemorrhage. As a result, the brains stops functioning normally and oftentimes the muscles in the body, the reflexes, and the senses are all affected.
Luckily, a stroke can be treated, but getting emergency medical attention as quickly as possible is the key to survival.  That’s why it’s vital to recognize the following 15 warning signs of a stroke…

1. Loss of Balance

The onset of a stroke will cause extreme physical turmoil, so much so that often victims have trouble walking, lose their balance and coordination completely, and even have trouble sitting down without falling. You could stumble and it feel next to impossible to get your balance, even just focusing on your balance and coordination. Dizziness, (discussed in more detail later in this article), is a common symptom that goes along with balance. Walking and simple coordination become difficult as a result of the dizziness.
While loss of balance is a symptom of a stroke, you can also experience it post-stroke. You may continue to feel dizzy and insecure in your ability to walk without stumbling or falling. According to the Stroke Association, you are more likely to experience balance problems if the stroke affected the left side of your body. Some stroke survivors may only feel mild balance issues, while others may have severe loss of balance which can impact their quality of life.

2. Weakness

A sudden loss of strength in the muscles of the face, arm, leg—even if it’s just temporary—can signal an oncoming stroke. Many patients complain of numbness or tingling in the left arm or shoulder that comes on suddenly and gradually worsens. Sometimes, complete muscle failure can occur, where you can’t lift an arm or bear weight on the affected leg.
Muscle weakness can occur after a stroke as well, especially if you’re immobile for a long period of time. Intense physical therapy can help teach stroke survivors how to better control their weak muscles and do some small tasks. While some people who’ve had a stroke never regain their ability to move one or both sides of their body, physical therapy has lead to many stroke survivors regaining their ability to heal – allowing them to walk and do the other regular day-to-day activities they did before the stroke.

3. Facial Paralysis

Oftentimes a stroke inflicts the facial muscles, where one side of the face droops or goes totally numb so the face appears non symmetrical. This is the most noticeable symptom. If you suspect someone if having a stroke, ask the person to smile. This is a quick way to identify if they are indeed having a stroke. If facial paralysis occurs, get them emergency medical attention immediately. Even if the non symmetrical smile or speech difficulty isn’t from a stroke, it’s still a sign that something serious is wrong.
Rehabilitation therapy plays a crucial role in recovering from facial paralysis. Some stroke survivors fully recover from facial paralysis over time, but it is permanent for many people. This symptom and often permanent effect of a stroke is caused by either lack of oxygen to the facial nerve in the brain or bleeding that puts pressure on nerves and tissues.

4. Difficult Speech

Difficult or slurred speech is another obvious warning sign. If someone suddenly has difficulty speaking or forming intelligent sentences, it could indicate a stroke. Observers often explain it as watching someone helpless trying to talk, or a look of sudden confusion on the affected person’s face. The person experiencing the stroke can feel extremely confused at the inability to speak, put words together in a sentence or simply trying to focus on speaking.
Speech can be greatly improved in the first few months following a stroke. The American Stroke Association identifies three speech disorders that can occur after a stroke – aphasia (difficulty or inability to use or comprehend words), apraxia (difficulty initiating or executing movement necessary to speak, despite being physically able to), and oral apraxia (difficulty moving the muscles of the lips, throat, soft palate and throat for things besides speech, like smiling). There are comprehensive treatments and therapies to help a stroke survivor regain their ability to speak well and normally.

5. Impaired Vision

Those affected by a stroke often explain there is a period prior where they have trouble seeing or seeing clearly. They could experience double vision, blurred vision, or complete loss of vision. These vision problems might only be temporary, but observers can test visual aptitude by asking the victim how many fingers they are holding up. If they can’t tell, call 9-1-1.
Many people who’ve had a stroke experience vision problems afterwards, especially if the stroke was on the right side of the brain. You could have blind spots or trouble focusing because of the cells that are destroyed in the visual cortex. While a high amount of stroke survivors have impaired vision, medical advances have increased the chance of seeing well enough to do regular things like shopping, going out for a walk, or even driving. Intense treatment that involves retraining the brain has helped many survivors get some or most of their vision back.

6. Lack of Understanding

A person suffering a stroke will often have difficulty understanding certain statements and commands in the days leading up to the actual stroke. This might also present itself when they try speaking or carrying on a conversation. You might not think anything of the confusion or difficulty understanding things – you may attribute it to fatigue or stress – but it’s important to know that it’s an early warning sign of a stroke so you could recognize it early.
The earlier you can identify you’re having a stroke, the better your chances are of full recovery. The longer you’re having a stroke without treatment and attention from a medical team, the more damage it can cause on your brain. It can also increase your chances of permanent damage resulting in severe disabilities. While it may seem like a small issue, it’s never a bad idea to get checked out if there’s cause for concern. Ruling out a stroke or getting early treatment could save your life.

7. Headache

The sudden onset of a severe, debilitating headache or migraine that is not normal or usual is common prior to a stroke. In fact, many stroke victims explain a headache so painful that it feels like being struck by lightning, as it causes extreme nausea and even a potential collapse. The headache could include visual problems, like an aura. An aura is similar to the spots you see from turning on a light bulb after being in a dark room, or a camera flash that leaves spots and makes you blink a lot. The difference is, it doesn’t go away after a few seconds.
It can be extremely difficult for someone who gets regular migraines or headaches – especially if their headaches often come with auras, something common in migraine sufferers – to recognize the symptom as a stroke. This makes it dangerous because you might not seek treatment when you should, decreasing your chance of full recovery and increasing the chance of permanent damage to your brain.

8. Loss of Sensation

In the days leading up to a stroke, it’s common for a gradual, or even a total, loss of vibratory sensation (or feeling) on the skin. Nerves in your brain send signals to different areas of your body. When you’re having a stroke, these signals can be damaged or stop functioning properly, causing complete loss or reduced sensation. You could experience it in one or several areas of your body, depending on the affected nerves. The other senses—such as smell, taste, and hearing can also be fully or partially affected.
Unfortunately, stroke survivors can experience difficulties with sensation after a stroke, including hypersensitivity to touch, loss or reduced temperature sensation, not knowing where a limb is without looking, and reduced touch. It can be frustrating and upsetting to have temporary or permanent damage of this sense, and depending on the severity it may greatly impact your ability to do the normal, everyday things you did before the stroke.

9. Dizziness

When someone is having a stroke, they may have difficulty walking, balancing, or even sitting down properly. This loss of balance can be so severe that many victims of a stroke feel like the world is spinning and they can’t find their equilibrium (i.e., vertigo). The dizziness can be so severe you feel nauseous, and it may even cause vomiting. The dizziness can be misdiagnosed as vertigo which puts the patient at a potential risk of increased damage. In some cases, the person having the stroke only experiences the severe dizziness for a short time, which is why it can be hard to diagnose stroke as the cause.
While severe dizziness happens to many people who have a stroke, sometimes the dizziness is not accompanied by other typical symptoms of stroke, making it hard to recognize what’s really happening. Mini strokes happen often without knowing it, and there’s a fairly good chance a regular stroke will occur after experiencing a mini (or several) strokes.

10. Lack of Reflex

It is also common to experience a decrease or loss of reflex. For instance, many stroke victims complain of trouble swallowing when eating. The American Stroke Association says that up to 65 percent of people who have a stroke can develop dysphagia, a swallowing disorder. Since this is a predominant symptom and after-effect of a stroke, it’s always examined when you’re in the hospital. There’s a swallow test that can be done, and if you don’t pass the test a speech-language pathologist will be needed for rehabilitation.
The temporary or permanent damage from a stroke varies from person to person, but one thing remains the same: the earlier you seek medical attention when having a stroke, the better your chances are, not just for survival, but also recovery. Knowing the warning signs and symptoms of stroke can help protect you and those around you. If there’s even an inkling you or someone you’re with is having a stroke, call 9-1-1 right away.

11. Confusion

Not surprisingly, people who are having a stroke will become confused. This is likely due to the fact that their brain is not functioning properly. On top of all that, if it is stroke related, they likely cannot speak or see clearly either. They are experiencing all kinds of uncomfortable symptoms in their body like numbness, weakness, and dizziness which causes them to become confused because they are typically unaware of what is happening.
If you ever become suddenly (keyword is ‘sudden’ because these symptoms will often appear seemingly out of nowhere) confused and have trouble understanding what people are saying, alongside some of these other symptoms, it could be because you’re having a stroke.

12. Trouble Reading

In addition to having trouble speaking or understanding what other people are saying, victims of a stroke will also have difficulty reading. This is another key sign that something is seriously wrong with the brain and they need medical attention right away.
A stroke can affect one side of the body more than the other, and if it’s more present in the left side of the brain, which is in control of language, “it can affect how you speak, your ability to understand what someone is saying, or your reading or writing skills,” according to Women’s Health.

13. Numbness

This one goes hand in hand with slide number two which cited weakness as one of the main symptoms of a stroke. While many people feel weak in the face, arm, leg, or one side of their body, they can also feel numbness.
Because the brain controls each side of the body with a different hemisphere, a stroke typically affects one side of the body more than the other which is why people will only feel numbness in one side, either the left or the right.

14. Hiccups

Similar to heart attacks, women and men can experience different symptoms when it comes to a stroke. For example, women are more likely to experience hiccups when suffering from a stroke. Since hiccups are commonly associated with things like indigestion, they are more likely to get an incorrect diagnosis. In a medical press release Dr. Diana Greene-Chandos, a neurologist and director of neuroscience critical care said: “[Women] actually can have hiccups with a little bit of chest pain with their stroke symptoms, sometimes sending them down the pathway of looking for either heart disease or indigestion.”
A study conducted by Ohio State University found that many women are unaware of the fact that they could experience unique symptoms of stroke, like hiccups. “Of 1,000 women surveyed, only one in 10 was aware that hiccups that occur with unusual chest pain is an early warning sign of stroke in women,” said researchers from Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. It’s important for women to be in the know when it comes to  their unique symptoms and risk factors because it could save their life.

15. Altered Mental Status

According to Healthline, altered mental status is a term clinicians use when referring to the following symptoms of stroke, drowsiness, unresponsiveness, disorientation, confusion, sudden behavioral change, agitation, and hallucination.
A 2009 study compared the acute differences between stroke symptoms in men and women found that altered mental status is the most common nontraditional symptom. Women are more likely to experience an altered mental state while suffering from a stroke at about 23 percent, whereas only 15 percent of men reported these symptoms. Healthline also notes, “women are about 1.5 times more likely to report at least one nontraditional stroke symptom.”