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Parsons Green: Police hunt bomber behind Tube attack

Armed officer at EustonImage copyright
PA

Image caption

The prime minister has warned that the public will see more armed police on public transport

A manhunt is under way to find the person behind Friday’s rush hour Tube bombing in south-west London.

Police said they were « chasing down suspects » and had hundreds of officers trawling through CCTV following the District Line attack, which injured 29.

The UK terror threat has been raised to critical – the highest level – meaning an attack may be imminent.

The Islamic State group has said it was behind the bomb, which was detonated at 08:20 BST at Parsons Green station.

The station reopened in the early hours of Saturday.

The Metropolitan Police’s Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said it was « very routine » for IS to claim the attack « whether or not they’ve had any previous engagement with the individuals involved ».

He asked the public to remain « vigilant », but said people should « not be alarmed ».

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PA

BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said it was notable that the police had use the word « suspects » in their statements, indicating that they may be looking for more than one attacker.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: « The working assumption at Scotland Yard and MI5 must be that there is not just one person behind this, but at least one, and that there are others that assisted or encouraged the person to plant this device. »

Media captionPolice asked about suspect

Announcing the change in the UK threat level, Prime Minister Theresa May said the military would be providing support to police and would replace officers on guard duty at national infrastructure sites that are not accessible to the public.

The use of the military to assist police is part of the first phase of Operation Temperer, a government plan to deploy troops to help police following major terrorist attacks, which was activated for the first time on 23 May following the Manchester Arena attack.

Mrs May said: « The public will see more armed police on the transport network and on our streets, providing extra protection.

« This is a proportionate and sensible step which will provide extra reassurance and protection while the investigation progresses. »


Analysis: A ‘critical’ change

By BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner

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PA

This is the fourth time the UK national terror threat level has been raised to « critical » since the system was made public in 2006.

The last time was in May this year following the Manchester Arena bombing, when it was wrongly thought that the bomb-maker was still at large and could strike again.

In the case of Parsons Green it is perhaps surprising that it took the Government so long – over 12 hours – to raise the threat level to critical, under advice from the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, when it was obvious the perpetrator had neither died nor been caught.

Each time the level has gone to critical, it has only stayed at this highest level of alertness for three to four days – this is partly as it involves an unsustainably high tempo for the police, intelligence and security services.

Extra patrols are mounted on the streets of London, covert surveillance is stepped up and troops are deployed to free up police officers to focus on the main effort: catching the bomber before he can plant another device.

But the very fact that yesterday’s attack took place with no warning shows this system is only a broad guide to the threat and simply reflects the latest assessment.


Passengers described the bomb, which was in a supermarket carrier bag, as a « fireball ».

Patients were taken to four London hospitals, including one with a specialist burns unit.

Media captionPM says terror threat raised to critical

It is understood the device had a timer but the BBC’s security correspondent Frank Gardner said the bomb appeared not to have gone off properly.

Had it worked as intended, it would have killed everyone around it and maimed everyone in the train carriage for life, he said.

Police urged anyone who took pictures or videos at the scene to upload them to ukpoliceimageappeal.co.uk.

Speaking to Today, Security Minister Ben Wallace said more needed to be done by internet companies to tackle the spread of information online which inspires attacks – including manuals of how to build bombs like the one used in Parsons Green.

« We take a lot down, but sometimes, very quickly, these things reappear, so we go at them again, » he said.

« We are not going to be like some other countries in the world who switch off their internet or just tell companies they can’t operate.

« We have to find a way to build pressure on internet companies to get them to invest some of their vast profits into the technologies to make sure we take down content very quickly or don’t even let it surface. »


What does terror threat level mean?

By Dominic Casciani, home affairs correspondent

A word of caution about « imminence ».

The terror threat level was previously raised to critical in May after Manchester.

Then it was lowered again days later after it became clear to intelligence assessors in the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre that an attack wasn’t imminent.

Then we had two more incidents – Borough Market/London Bridge and Finsbury Park.

What does this tell us?

Intelligence is usually fragmentary.

Analysts sometimes only have glimpses or impressions of what they think is going on.

It’s an imperfect world.


‘I could see a fireball’

Anna Gorniak, who was in the same Tube carriage as the explosion, said: « I could see a fireball filling the carriage and coming our way. At that moment, I started to run.

« In my mind I was praying, I probably thought for a second, ‘That’s it, my life is over.' »

Image caption

Anna Gorniak said she could see a fireball « filling the carriage »

Media captionPeter Crowley: « There was a fireball above my head »

Peter Crowley was sitting in the carriage, travelling from Wimbledon, when the explosion happened.

He said his head was burned by a « really hot intense fireball above my head » and added: « There were people a lot worse than me. »

Chris Wildish told BBC Radio 5 live he saw a bucket in a supermarket bag with « low-level flames coming out of it » by the door of the rear carriage.


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Protests erupt in St. Louis after former cop who shot driver acquitted on murder charges

More than a dozen people were arrested Friday as hundreds of demonstrators in the St. Louis region marched into the night following the acquittal of a white former police officer who was charged with murder last year for fatally shooting a black driver after a car chase.

Prosecutors charged Jason Stockley, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer, with murder for killing Anthony Lamar Smith in December 2011. According to the probable cause statement, Stockley was caught saying he was « going to kill this motherf‑‑‑er, don’t you know it » and was heard telling another officer to drive into Smith’s slowing car.

The court document, submitted by the St. Louis circuit attorney, said Stockley then approached Smith’s window and fired five times into the car, hitting Smith « with each shot » and killing him. In addition, prosecutors accused the officer of planting a gun on the victim: there was a gun found in Smith’s car, but it was later determined to only have DNA from Stockley.

Judge Timothy Wilson, the circuit judge who heard the case in a bench trial, acquitted Stockley on the murder charge as well as a charge of armed criminal action in a 30-page order released Friday morning.

Wilson wrote that he was « simply not firmly convinced » of Stockley’s guilt, saying that « agonizingly, » he went over the case’s evidence repeatedly. Ultimately, Wilson said, he was not convinced that the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Stockley « did not act in self-defense, » as the former officer had said.

Following the verdict, Smith’s mother, Annie, said the judge made the wrong decision.

« Justice wasn’t served. I can never be at peace, » she told Fox2Now.

In an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Stockley, 36, who relocated to Houston, acknowledged the hurt Smith’s family is feeling. « I know everyone wants someone to blame, » he told the newspaper, « but I’m just not the guy. »

When asked why he agreed to address the case, tears filled his eyes. « Because I did nothing wrong, » he said. « If you’re telling the truth and you’ve been wrongly accused, you should shout it from the rooftops. »

A West Point graduate who served with the Army in Iraq, Stockley said that his job as a St. Louis cop grew so dangerous, he began carrying unauthorized weapons with extra rounds.

« I accept full responsibility for violating the rules, » he said. « But it’s not a moral crime. It’s a rule violation. »


Local and state officials said they were prepared for potential unrest following the acquittal. Some schools in the St. Louis area were shuttered and events in the region were postponed as the verdict loomed.

In the afternoon, police used pepper spray on protesters blocking their path, while demonstrators smashed the front windshield of a police SUV, the Post-Dispatch reported.

Later in the evening, roughly 1,000 protesters descended on the home of St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, throwing rocks and breaking windows, according to the Post-Dispatch. They were met by about 200 police in riot gear who tried to disperse them with tear gas. The mayor did not appear to be home.

Thirteen people were arrested, and eight police officers were injured, including two who were taken to the hospital, St. Louis police said in a series of tweets.

On Friday night, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R), who had put the state’s National Guard on standby ahead of the verdict and potential protests, said he was « heartened to see so many people who were upset or hurt by this verdict who came out to peacefully protest. » He also chastised those who engaged in violence, saying it « is not going to be tolerated here in the state of Missouri. »

Before the verdict was announced, Greitens stood with Christina Wilson, Smith’s fiancee, to deliver a joint message asking people to protest peacefully.

« If you feel like you want to speak out, speak how you feel, » Wilson said at the news briefing. « And whatever comes to you, just do it in a peaceful way. »

Greitens, speaking after Wilson, said he knew people could feel pain after the verdict, but asked them not to « turn that pain into violence. »

« One life has been lost in this case, and we don’t need more bloodshed, » he said.

Neil J. Bruntrager, an attorney for Stockley, said in a telephone interview that the judge’s detailed opinion explaining the verdict was his « best effort in that regard to make sure people understand why he did what he did. »

« That to me is invaluable, » Bruntrager continued. « Because if you read this, if you truly read this, you can’t come away with any other conclusion other than what he concluded. »

The potential for unrest has gripped the St. Louis region, which was rocked in 2014 when an officer in suburban Ferguson shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager.

That shooting prompted intense, sometimes violent protests, as did the decision months later not to indict that officer, Darren Wilson. The case, and the protests that followed, garnered worldwide attention, and in many ways kick-started the nationwide focus on police officers’ use of deadly force, particularly against black men and boys.

Since Ferguson, police shootings or other uses of force — and decisions not to charge the officers in most of the cases involved — have set off heated protests in New York, Baltimore, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Charlotte and other cities across the country.

But the specter of Ferguson has lingered over the broader St. Louis area, which last month marked the third anniversary of Brown’s death. It has also fueled a change in the way local officials respond to shootings and potential protests, with officials in some cases hurrying to release information to avoid becoming the « another Ferguson, » as one civil rights leader put it after a police shooting in his community.

Krewson, the city’s mayor, said in a statement Friday that she is « appalled » by what happened to Smith.

« I am sobered by this outcome. Frustration, anger, hurt, pain, hope and love all intermingle, » she wrote. « I will continue my work to create a more equitable community. »

Before the verdict, activists in the St. Louis region pledged « mass disruption » should Stockley wind up getting acquitted, vowing the outcome would « look a lot like Ferguson. »

Demonstrators began gathering in the streets after the acquittal Friday, growing in size as the day wore on.

Jeffrey A. Mittman, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, said Smith « died unnecessarily » in 2011.

« This region — and our country as a whole — have seen too many deaths caused by police, with little accountability for the officers or department involved, » Mittman said in a statement.

Smith’s death preceded the wave of police shootings and other uses of force that captured national attention recently. Stockley was ultimately charged last year after new evidence emerged from the St. Louis city police and the FBI, according to the circuit attorney, who did not disclose what that was. According to the circuit attorney’s office, the St. Louis police’s internal affairs investigators contacted them in March 2016 with this new evidence that ultimately made the prosecutor pursue charges.

Prosecutors said during the trial that they believe Stockley, who left the St. Louis police force in 2013, planted a gun on Smith after the shooting.

Attorneys for Stockley said the officer acted in self-defense because he feared that Smith was going to shoot him. When he testified, Stockley denied planting the gun in Smith’s car, saying he first touched it when searching the vehicle.

In his order acquitting Stockley on Friday, Wilson said he did not believe evidence supported the prosecution’s argument that the officer planted the gun.

Wilson outlined a history of the case, saying that Smith’s car crashed into a police vehicle before driving off. Stockley fired shots at Smith’s car before they pursued him in a high-speed car chase that Wilson said lasted three minutes, endangered drivers and pedestrians and was « stressful » for the officers involved.

According to Wilson’s account, which in part is based on the dashboard camera from the police car, Stockley approached Smith’s car with his hand on his holstered gun and then appeared to wrestle « with something or someone at the window. » Stockley is then seen drawing his gun and firing.

A medical examiner later said that Smith had been shot five times, with one bullet going through Smith’s heart, Wilson wrote. The medical examiner could not say whether Smith was reaching for anything when he was shot.

Wilson said that he did not believe Stockley’s actions after the pursuit were « consistent with the conduct of a person intentionally killing another person unlawfully, » noting that Stockley did not immediately open fire when approaching Smith’s car and adding that the officer had been told Smith had a gun.

« No one promised a rose garden, and this surely is not one, » Wilson wrote.

Wilson also discussed Stockley’s comment about killing Smith, saying that the pursuit was stressful for the officers involved, noting that « people say all kinds of things in the heat of the moment or while in stressful situations. »

Bruntrager, Stockley’s attorney, said that while it is terrible when someone loses their life, Stockley felt some « personal satisfaction » because Wilson’s order showed he viewed the former officer as credible.

« Particularly police officers who’ve been through this, » Bruntrager said of officers facing charges or possible charges after fatal shootings. « They know what they know, they know what they saw. When they hear someone say yes, I believe that is what happened, that makes a difference. »

The decision to charge Stockley last year came as the number of law enforcement officers charged for deadly on-duty shootings has increased, which experts have attributed to an increase in video evidence and public pressure. But the increased number of charges have not led to more convictions, which remain very rare in cases involving officers charged for shooting someone or using deadly force while on-duty.

In the span of a week this summer, juries opted against convicting three police officers charged in high-profile shootings that were captured on video. In each of those cases, the video and the case prompted protests and unrest. In each of those cases, prosecutors filed charges and decried what had happened. Each case ended with an acquittal, showing what law enforcement officials and experts say are the limitations of video evidence.

« This not guilty verdict of a police officer who violently killed a citizen is another slap in the face to the black community in St. Louis. And a shot in the heart to the family of the victim, » Missouri State Rep. Michael Butler (D-St. Louis) said in a statement issued Friday morning, adding that the verdict has left him « appalled. »

« This system and all the politicians calling for peace are ignoring the pain this verdict causes our communities. Anthony Lamar Smith is dead from a violent act and you want us to be peaceful? You want us to not feel anger? The very people paid to protect us are killing us, paid to make peace are perpetuating violence, and we are supposed to be peaceful? » he wrote. « We will be nonviolent but we will not settle on peace. No justice. No peace. »

This story has been updated since it was first published. 

Further reading:

The Washington Post’s database of police shootings this year

Former Milwaukee police officer acquitted in fatal shooting of Sylville Smith

Mistrial declared in case of South Carolina officer who shot Walter Scott after traffic stop

Corona’s VR installation brings city folks back to nature

Dive Brief:

  • Corona launched an immersive virtual reality installation in Mexico City last month to further its mission to “encourage people around the world to reconnect with nature, » the company said in a press release
  • The experience used VR technology, theatrics and interactive set design and included real-world elements such as sand, heat and scents to make the user feel like they were walking down a jungle path to the beach.
  • Thiago Zanettini, Corona’s global vice president, said in a press release that the company hopes to do more projects like this one in the future in Mexico and other parts of the world.

Dive Insight:

Virtual and augmented reality marketing are still novel concepts, but Corona’s installation may give us a glimpse into what the future of content marketing will look like. 

Corona’s VR initiative and others like it demonstrate a continuation of the overall shift in marketing away from direct selling and toward creating value for consumers through experiences. While VR exemplifies this marketing mindset, the technology isn’t yet accessible to most companies due to its high cost. Most consumers don’t have access to it either, except through public installation like this one.

The marketing industry has long been moving away from outbound marketing towards inbound, which focuses on creating experiences that customers seek out, a trend that was evident this summer in a number of unique out-of-home experiences. Visual content including images, video and live video is also on the rise. Forecasts show that, for 2017, 74% of all web traffic will be video. Virtual reality encompasses both of these trends, as it focuses on creating a valuable consumer experience and engages users visually as well as through other senses.

Currently, VR marketing is out of the price range for many companies’ budgets. Interactive video production can cost as much as $30,000 to $60,000 per minute. VR is forecast to become more widely used as prices come down, however, and the VR industry is expected to generate $70 billion by 2020. As the technology gains popularity, interactive marketing experiences like Corona’s may become more commonplace. 

Vevo Hackers Leak — Then Delete — Huge Trove of Internal Videos, Documents

A notorious hacker group broke into the servers of music-streaming service Vevo, releasing more than 3 terabytes of internal documents and video content online — before removing them later Friday morning at Vevo’s request.

The purloined cache, posted by hacking and security collective OurMine, included videos, a batch of documents labeled “premieres,” as well as marketing info, international social-media documents, and other internal files, as first reported by tech site Gizmodo.

Vevo confirmed the hack, which it said was the result of a phishing scam via LinkedIn. “We have addressed the issue and are investigating the extent of exposure,” a Vevo rep said in an emailed statement.

The 3.12-terabyte trove of stolen documents included Vevo’s internal dossiers on about 9o artists, including Ariana Grande, Britney Spears, Calvin Harris, Florida Georgia Line, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Madonna, One Direction, Sia, Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, and U2.

OurMine, in a post on its site, claimed it leaked the Vevo files late Thursday after an exchange with a Vevo employee who — upon being informed of the hack — allegedly told the hackers, “F— off, you don’t have anything.”

In an update Friday morning, OurMine said that “We deleted the files because of a request from VEVO.”

OurMine over the past few years has targeted numerous companies and high-profile individuals, ostensibly as a guerrilla-style marketing effort for its security services.

Last month, OurMine hijacked the social-media accounts of HBO, which separately this summer was threatened with extortion demands from a hacker that stole 1.5 TB of the programmer’s files. Other victims have included Netflix, Marvel, Google, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter chief Jack Dorsey.

New York-based Vevo is jointly owned by Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, Abu Dhabi Media, and Alphabet (Google’s parent).

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in Lagos

NAIJ.com free digital media school which was held in Lagos, Nigeria, came to an end on Thursday, September 15, 2017 with an enlightening workshop session and presentation of certificates to the successful participants.

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

The 2 weeks intensive training which began on August 28, 2017, was set up to train and educate graduates, entrepreneurs and managers who wish to start a career or perfect their knowledge in the field of digital media.

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

Cross section of NAIJ digital school participants

When NAIJ.com called for applications into the free digital media school in July 2017, over 3,000 people applied to participate, however, only 879 students passed the online test, out of which only 26 of the best applicants were accepted to be a part of the training.

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

CMO/Country Group Head of NAIJ.com, Goke Olaegbe, delivering a lecture on « Digital ecosystem: How to be among top 5% of ads users notice »

The lucky students accepted into the program went through weeks of intensive training from international and local experienced professionals who have mastered the world of digital marketing and built successful careers in the digital media industry.

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

CEO Genesis Africa, Vasily Ulyanov, giving a lecture on « How to build a business in digital marketing? Genesis cases from US, Africa and Latin America »

The topics covered during the training include:

  • Module 1. How to build a business in digital marketing? Genesis cases from US, Africa and Latin America
  • Module 2. Digital ecosystem: How to be among top 5% of ads users notice
  • Module 3. Digital strategy: How to walk a customer down the path of purchase

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

Editor-in-Chief NAIJ.com, Bayo Olupohunda, giving a lecture on « How we produce content for #1 digital media in Africa »

  • Module 4. Social media marketing: How to build a community with 10M fans?
  • Module 5. How we produce content for #1 digital media in Africa?
  • Module 6. How to make a video worth 15 million views?

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

PR/Social Media Executive NAIJ.com, Mitchelle Okuku, giving a lecture on « Social media marketing: How to build a community with 10M fans? »

Every lecture was followed with challenging home tasks to help the students understand each topic better.

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

HOD NAIJ.com Video Team, Damilare Okunola, lecturing on « How to make a video worth 15 million views? »

The entire digital media training program was very engaging and gave participants the chance to learn firsthand from masters in digital marketing who were more than willing to share their knowledge and answer the questions students had to answer.

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

NAIJ.com digital school participants

The participants were also lucky to be taught the business secrets and strategies that NAIJ.com has employed over the years to win the ultimate spot of number 1 media company in Nigeria; giving them the technical know how to successfully grow their own digital marketing empires and understanding the truth about so many misconceptions in the digital media industry.

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

At the end of the training, all the participants were fully equipped with the necessary knowledge to build a career in digital marketing and successfully influence the world of marketing using digital tools.

The last day of the training also included a workshop session which served as an avenue for the students to put all they had been taught into practical use.

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

NAIJ.com digital school students working on their project during the workshop

The lucky participants having been trained and ready to take on the digital marketing industry, were more than happy to receive their certificates of attendance on successful completion of the training.

See pictures of some of the successful students being presented with their certificates:

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

NAIJ.com digital school 2017 rounds up in grand style

Would you love to be a part of the next NAIJ.com digital school edition? Then stay informed by following https://www.facebook.com/naijdigitalschool/ on Facebook.

Source: Naij.com

UN Security Council to meet after North Korea fires another missile over Japan

SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) – North Korea fired a second missile over Japan far out into the Pacific Ocean on Friday, South Korean and Japanese officials said, deepening tension after Pyongyang’s recent test of its sixth and most powerful nuclear bomb.

The U.N. Security Council was to meet later in the day to discuss the launch at the request of the United States and Japan, diplomats said.

The missile flew over Hokkaido in the north and landed in the Pacific about 2,000 km (1,240 miles) to the east, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

The missile reached an altitude of about 770 km (480 miles) and flew for about 19 minutes over about 3,700 km (2,300 miles), according to South Korea’s military – far enough to reach the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, which the North has threatened before.

On Aug 29, North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile, the Hwasong-12, which traveled 2,700 km (1,700 miles) over Japan.

“The range of this test was significant since North Korea demonstrated that it could reach Guam with this missile,” the Union of Concerned Scientists said in a statement.

But it said the accuracy of the missile, still at an early stage of development, was low.

Warning announcements about the missile blared around 7 a.m. (2200 GMT Thursday) in parts of northern Japan, while many residents received alerts on their mobile phones or saw warnings on TV telling them to seek refuge.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said the launch “put millions of Japanese into duck and cover”, although residents of northern Japan appeared calm and went about their business as normal after the second such launch in less than a month.

The U.S. military said soon after the launch it had detected a single intermediate range ballistic missile but the missile did not pose a threat to North America or Guam, which lies 3,400 km (2,110 miles) from North Korea.

U.S. officials repeated Washington’s “ironclad” commitments to the defense of its allies. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called for “new measures” against North Korea and said the “continued provocations only deepen North Korea’s diplomatic and economic isolation”.

  • U.S. majority backs military action vs. North Korea: Gallup poll
  • U.N. chief condemns North Korea missile launch
  • Putin and Macron discuss North Korea’s missile launch: Kremlin

A poll by Gallup Analytics suggested a majority of Americans appeared ready to support military action against North Korea, at least as a last resort. Some 58 percent said they would favor taking military action if economic and diplomatic efforts failed to achieve U.S. goals.

“This is significantly higher than the 47 percent in favor the last time Gallup asked this, in 2003,” the group said.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said dialogue with the North was impossible at this point. He ordered officials to analyze and prepare for possible new North Korean threats, including electromagnetic pulse and biochemical attacks, a spokesman said.

Russia said the missile test was part of a series of unacceptable provocations and that the U.N. Security Council was united in believing such launches should not be taking place.

CLEAR MESSAGE

The council was to meet at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT), diplomats said, just days after its 15 members unanimously stepped up sanctions against North Korea over its Sept. 3 nuclear test.

Those sanctions imposed a ban on North Korea’s textile exports and capped its imports of crude oil.

North Korea has launched dozens of missiles under young leader Kim Jong Un as it accelerates a weapons program designed to give it the ability to target the United States with a powerful, nuclear-tipped missile. Two tests in July were for long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching at least parts of the U.S. mainland.

“This rocket has meaning in that North Korea is pushing toward technological completion of its missiles and that North Korea may be feeling some pressure that they need to show the international community something,” said Yang Uk, a senior research fellow at the Korea Defence and Security Forum.

Last month, North Korea fired an intermediate range missile from a similar area near the capital Pyongyang that also flew over Hokkaido into the ocean and said more would follow.

“The first time was unexpected, but I think people are getting used to this as the new normal,” said Andrew Kaz, who teaches English in Kushiro City in Hokkaido. “The most it seemed to disrupt was my coffee.”

South Korea said it had fired a missile test into the sea to coincide with North Korea’s launch and the presidential Blue House has called an urgent National Security Council meeting. Japan also convened a National Security Council meeting.

Pyongyang had threatened a day earlier to sink Japan and reduce the United States to “ashes and darkness” for supporting the U.N. Security Council’s latest resolution and sanctions.

The U.S. general overseeing America’s nuclear forces said on Thursday he assumed that North Korea’s latest nuclear test was in fact a hydrogen bomb, as Pyongyang had claimed, based on the size of the blast.

“DANGEROUS, RECKLESS”

The North accuses the United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, of planning to invade and regularly threatens to destroy it and its Asian allies.

The U.S. dollar fell sharply against the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc in early Asian hours in response to the launch, although losses were quickly pared in very jittery trade.

U.S. President Donald Trump had been briefed on the latest launch, the White House said.

Trump has vowed that North Korea will never be allowed to threaten the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile, but has also asked China to do more to rein in its neighbor. China in turn favors an international response to the problem.

“China and Russia must indicate their intolerance for these reckless missile launches by taking direct actions of their own,” Tillerson said.

China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, denied that China held the key to easing tension on the peninsula and said that duty lay with the parties directly involved.

“Any attempt to wash their hands of the issue is irresponsible and unhelpful for its resolution,” she said, reiterating China’s position that sanctions are only effective if paired with talks.

The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce and not a peace treaty.

(For a graphic on North Korea’s missile and nuclear test, click: here)

Reporting by Jack Kim and Christine Kim in SEOUL and Hideyuki Sano in TOKYO; Additional reporting by William Mallard, Tim Kelly and Chehui Peh in TOKYO, Mohammad Zargham, Susan Heavey and David Brunnstrom in WASHINGTON, and Phil Stewart in NEBRASKA; Masha Tsvetkova and Polina Devitt in MOSCOW; Christian Shepherd in BEIJING; Writing by Linda Sieg; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Nick Macfie

RIP, Cassini: Historic Mission Ends with Fiery Plunge into Saturn

PASADENA, Calif.—  And just like that, it was gone.

NASA received its last data transmission from the Cassini spacecraft at 4:55:46 a.m. PDT (7:55:46 a.m. EDT, 1146 GMT) today (Sept. 15), before losing contact with the probe as it hurtled into Saturn’s atmosphere. It was a fiery grand finale  for the probe, which spent 13 years orbiting the ringed planet. NASA officials expect that Cassini broke apart about 45 seconds after that final transmission, due to the intense friction and heat generated by the fall.

« I hope you’re all … deeply proud of this amazing accomplishment, » Earl Maize, the Cassini program manager, said to the mission team after the spacecraft signal was lost. « Congratulations to you all. This has been an incredible mission, an incredible spacecraft, and you’re all an incredible team. I’m going to call this the end of mission. » [Cassini’s Last-Ever Photos Come Down to Earth

The Cassini spacecraft has plunged into Saturn, sending back its final communications before burning up in the ringed planet's atmosphere.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The final stream of data from Cassini was received at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in southern California. The spacecraft communicated with Earth via the Deep Space Network, a series of telescopes around the world that keep contact with spacecraft that fly beyond the moon. The Deep Space Network is managed from JPL.

During Cassini’s final moments, mission scientists and team members watched anxiously as data continued to come in from the spacecraft as it hurtled through Saturn’s atmosphere. The signal was lost when Cassini could no longer keep its antenna pointed at Earth, due to the intense friction created by its fall through the atmosphere. Maize said he anticipated that the probe would completely break apart about 45 seconds later. The team members stood and applauded somberly when Maize announced end of mission. 

« This is a historic moment, and I think the mood reflects that, » Morgan Cable, a research scientist at JPL, said of the event. « This is a celebration of an amazing mission and incredible legacy. »

In Cassini’s final months and days, scientists and the public alike have voiced their affection for the space probe and the incredible discoveries it made. 

« [I’m] feeling the love, if I may be so corny, » Maize said when asked about the public outpouring. « It’s just very heartening. Because it’s part of what we try to do — to extend everybody out to Saturn. It’s not [just for] scientists in the ivory tower; it’s for humanity. And so for everybody to get on the ride … it is just phenomenal. » [Cassini’s Greatest Discoveries at Saturn]

Cassini’s descent into Saturn was intentional. The spacecraft was rapidly running out of fuel, after spending nearly 20 years in space, and NASA scientists decided to make use of the mission’s inevitable conclusion. By crashing into Saturn, Cassini had the opportunity to see what the planet’s upper atmosphere is made of, and that’s the data that the probe sent back to Earth during its final few moments of life. The probe took its last images of the Saturn system yesterday (Sept. 14), and transmitted those images back to Earth the same day, ahead of its plunge.

Members of the Cassini team and other JPL employees watch the final minutes of the Cassini mission, next to a full-scale model of the spacecraft.
Credit: Calla Cofield/Space.com

During its 13-year tenure at Saturn, Cassini captured breathtaking images of the ringed planet, revealing swirling storms and a hexagonal jet stream swirling around Saturn’s north pole. The probe saw strange features in the planet’s ring system, found evidence of meteors crashing through the rings in the past, and watched as the planet’s many moons caused the rings to change and evolve.

The spacecraft discovered new moons around Saturn; the planet has 53 named moons and another nine unnamed moons, and there are many more small objects that might one day be confirmed as moons. Cassini found geysers erupting from the surface of the large, icy moon Enceladus. Further study of the geysers has since indicated that Enceladus’ subsurface water ocean might have conditions suitable for life. Cassini revealed new details about the strange surface of the moon Titan, which is dotted with liquid methane lakes, rivers and oceans. 

This is the last image taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft before it dove into Saturn's atmosphere. Cassini captured this view on Sept. 14, 2017 at 12:59 p.m. PDT (3:59 p.m. EDT; 19:59 GMT). It shows the location where the spacecraft would enter the planet's atmosphere hours later.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

« We left the world informed but still wondering, » Maize said during a news conference Wednesday (Sept. 13). « I could not ask for more. »

The $3.26 billion Cassini-Huygens mission  — a joint effort by NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency — launched in 1997 and arrived at the Saturn system in 2004. In 2005, the Huygens lander dropped onto the surface of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, revealing the hidden world beneath its opaque, orange atmosphere. The Cassini orbiter’s initial mission was meant to last until 2008 but was extended twice, stretching the spacecraft’s life to 2017.

The Cassini team cheers, hugs and cries after receiving the final signal from Cassini that indicated the mission had come to an end with the spacecraft's disintegration in Saturn's atmosphere.
Credit: Joel Kowski/NASA/UPI/Newscom

« One of the greatest legacies of the mission is not just the scientific discoveries it makes, and what you learn about, but the fact that you make discoveries that are so compelling that you have to go back, » said Mike Watkins, director of JPL. « We will go back and fly through the geysers of Enceladus, we will go back and look at Titan, because the Cassini findings are just groundbreaking. »

Follow Calla Cofield @callacofieldFollow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

The Method To The Madness Of ‘Mother!’s Box Office Marketing

When Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan came out of the fall film festival circuit seven years ago, the pic was promptly teed up for Oscar season with many bewitched by Natalie Portman’s graceful turn as a tormented ballerina who notches the lead in Swan Lake. 

“Black Swan”

Fox Searchlight ensured that the movie was protected theatrically in what was a pretty fierce awards season that included competition like The Social Network and The King’s Speech. As such, the label platformed Black Swan during the December holidays before going wide around the time of the Golden Globes in January. Black Swan crossed over feasibly from specialty houses to multiplexes, appealing to horror fans, the LGBTQ community and sophisticated audiences who shelled out close to $107 million. The film remains one of three Searchlight titles to cross the century mark in the classic label’s history. Black Swan earned five Oscar noms, with Portman walking home with a Best Actress trophy.

This weekend, Paramount is taking a completely different, audacious approach with Aronofsky’s latest genre twist motherstarring Jennifer Lawrence. Having just finished earning great praise out of the Toronto and Venice film festivals with a 76% certified fresh Rotten Tomatoes score, mother! won’t be receiving a platform rollout. Instead, the studio is brazenly taking the Aronofsky pic wide in 2,368 theaters.

Typically when a distributor goes wide with what appears to be an art house film, it’s because they need to make their cash back fast, making a platform play risky. But that’s not exactly the case for Paramount with mother!, which per insiders cost around $30M before PA.

Sure, part of the wide-release strategy stems from having a star like Lawrence, who guarantees a female turnout between 50%-60% for her post-Hunger Games fare. Social media monitor RelishMix points out that Lawrence’s Facebook followers alone rep 25% of the film’s 81M social media universe. However, Paramount feels it has something wild in mother! and that the best way to pull the string open is to go big, hopefully triggering a huge conversation on social. Early audiences have expressed a wide array of emotions and reactions — the Google search phrase “what does mother movie mean” has generated 77 million results as of this afternoon. Some moviegoers interpret mother! as a Biblical allegory, or a jab at social media, while others believe it’s about climate change, or as Lawrence explains in her deconstruction of the film above, it’s all allegory, with Shel Silverstein’s children’s book The Giving Tree more of an inspiration than Roman Polanski horror pics.

The film’s storyline has largely been shrouded in secrecy with its initial theatrical trailer attached to Dunkirk two months ago literally comprised of words on the screen and chaotic audio. Throughout the last month we’ve come to learn that Lawrence plays the younger wife to Him (Javier Bardem), a famed writer. They’re restoring their country house, but have unexpected guests showing up portrayed by Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Rival distribs have rubbed their chins over Paramount’s brave move to open what looks to be a horror film in the wake of New Line’s behemoth It, which will cross $200M at the domestic box office this frame take No. 1 in its second weekend with $50M-plus. But while mother! looks and smells like a horror film, it’s essentially something crazier, Lynchian, and completely Aronofsky-esque. After Blumhouse’s PG-13 horror pic Happy Death Day moved on to mother!‘s original release date of Friday, October 13, Paramount moved mother! up to September 15 as it saw both titles were competing for under-25 females.  

Tracking has mother! at $11M. If Paramount can get the movie to $15M, it would be considered a decent start, with anything higher being fantastic. CBS/Lionsgate’s American Assassin is also in the mix this weekend at 3,154 sites, with a projected debut of $15M-$17M, and while older men are that pic’s bread and butter, spots have been featuring more of Dylan O’Brien to attract, yup, young women.

In the final run-up to the mother!‘s opening, Paramount is hoping that its Europe-North America premiere tour of the film — including the Venice and Toronto film festivals, London, Paris and a Radio City Music Hall New York City premiere this week — has spurred a want-to-see. On the day of the London film premiere, #mothermovie hashtags spiked to 43,000 and have since settled and grown this week from 4K to 8K daily, and generic #mother from 1,500K to 3K hashtags on Twitter, per RelishMix.

Well, what about awards? Wouldn’t it be wiser for mother! to roll out slowly and be something akin to a Crying Game that specialty audiences discover? While there will certainly be an awards campaign for the movie, of utmost importance for Paramount was that a bold movie deserved a bold launch. By going wide, it’s a way to get everyone talking in the Stranger Things sense all at once, whether they enjoyed the movie or not. Not to mention, if an actress of lesser marquee value than Lawrence was toplining, a platform strategy would have been considered.

Last weekend, to goose interest among the It masses, Paramount released a custom in-theater trailer in the vein of a Screen Gems horror film that exclaimed to audiences, “In one week, in this theater, one movie will mess you up for life…You will never forget where you were the first time you saw mother! After the movie, visit the box office to get your tickets.” The question tomorrow is whether any leftover It moviegoers were so inclined. mother! is not the traditional horror pic by any means in the commercial sense of the term. A bulk of the marketing campaign was shrouded in symbolism and secrecy, which is certainly sincere to the movie’s gripping, maddening sensibility. From moment to moment, you’re unsure of the fate of Lawrence’s character as the camera follows her Hitchcock-style (over her shoulder, on her face, or her POV).

On Mother’s Day, Paramount dropped James Jean’s Catholic prayer card-like one sheet of Lawrence offering up her bleeding heart. There were clues embedded throughout, and props from the film (i.e. a jewelry box, a lighter. There was also a companion Jean poster dropped in early August of Javier Bardem with hell flames in the background and his hubby character holding a silver globe. On Instagram, the Bardem poster was embedded with audio, which when run through a pro audio tool revealed a spectogram of the Oscar winner’s face. Neither poster was permitted for use in theaters by the MPAA, but the early August one sheet showing a porcelain face of Lawrence was OK’d for in-theater use. During the first weekend of August, a second teaser showing Lawrence walking around the house amid chaotic noises was released in theaters. By the time Annabelle: Creation opened the next weekend, the full trailer was released showing the pic’s unwelcome guest premise as we know it with images of people storming the country house’s lawn at night, capped off Lawrence yelling “Get out of my house!”

By late August, the meat of the campaign kicked in with the Rosemary Baby homage posters and billboards (in orange and the original 1968’s hunter green) appearing in cities and online. This was a hint Lawrence’s character in the movie was indeed pregnant and in peril. There were also theories that the actress’ half-face image was an homage to the 1997 animatef film Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion. The exclusive look during the September 5 premiere of American Horror Story: Cult fully revealed that Lawrence’s Mother was in fact pregnant. Aronofsky and Paramount’s marketing team worked closely in crafting all aspects of the cool and clever in the campaign. Paramount is using such critic quotes as “The boldest studio movie since Kubrick died” and “Tear-down-the-screen inferno” in its TV spots.

Typically a studio will test their campaign materials, but Paramount decided to go with its gut. In addition, mother! wasn’t tested, rather screened to friends and families only. Aronofsky is known to get final cut.

Paramount’s mother! opens tonight at 7 PM.

mdg Launches Video Marketing Division


9/14/2017
Event professionals are forever in search of innovative ways to attract members, drive attendance and otherwise engage their audiences. Over the past decade, mdg has built up its suite of services to respond to these demands, incorporating new tools, technologies and tactics that are effective at getting noticed and compelling action. The agency’s newest offering, video marketing, was launched to fill an existing gap in the marketplace and to provide clients with a powerful means of communicating a brand story, explaining a value proposition and deepening relationships with prospective and current members or event participants.

According to mdg President Kimberly Hardcastle-Geddes, “Given the experiential nature of trade shows and conferences, it makes perfect sense that video marketing is the fastest-growing online format for event promotion. Video allows us to better engage the senses of our prospects and tell stories that will entertain, educate, nurture and ultimately drive attendance.”

Hardcastle-Geddes went on to explain the difference between the services being offered by her firm and others in the event space, stating, “While other service providers are focused on creating and distributing news that originates onsite, our focus will be on the pre-event promotional campaigns that will drive attendance and exhibitor participation for the next edition of the show. Currently, many event organizers are relying on vendors who don’t really understand how to tell those stories, or simply don’t know how to get beyond the 60-to-90-second sizzle reel.”

mdg announced its expanded presence in the space, aptly, through a promotional video created in conjunction with its production partner, Taste Media Group. Specifically, agency services include videos aimed at attendee, exhibitor and membership acquisition; content-driven videos that can be used in lead-generational campaigns; live-streaming videos; and more. Formats vary from live action to motion graphics. Delivery methods range from social media and digital ads to email. And content utilizes a mix of education, humor, emotional appeals and more.

Vincent Polito, agency principal and live events specialist, states, “Video is fully past the ‘up-and-coming’ classification and is here to stay. We’ve been using video marketing to improve website SEO; to facilitate social sharing; to boost click-through rates; to more effectively move prospects through the path-to-purchase funnel; and, ultimately, to increase conversions. We’ve built up a portfolio of success stories and are now excited announce our presence as a serious player in this space.”

About mdg
mdg is a results-driven, award-winning agency with offices in San Diego, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia. Purchased by Kimberly Hardcastle-Geddes and Vincent Polito in 2012, mdg employs 75 full-time professionals including marketing researchers and strategists, digital and interactive media experts, event- and association-management specialists, data analysts and a full creative services department. mdg has served as a strategic partner for several of the most successful trade shows in the country, marketing new events and repositioning and rebranding mature ones.

Additionally, mdg serves its association clients by developing and executing communication and marketing plans to increase membership, promote professional development opportunities, spark engagement, build participation in ancillary events, and support sales, sponsorship and revenue objectives.

For more information go to www.mdg.agency.

Contact:
talia@marketingdesigngroup.com