Macron reform drive is make-or-break for French unions

Facing a wave of reforms by President Emmanuel Macron touching nearly every aspect of daily life, French unions kick off a wave of strikes Tuesday that analysts say will test how much weight they still carry.

Facing a wave of reforms by President Emmanuel Macron touching nearly every aspect of daily life, French unions kick off a wave of strikes Tuesday that analysts say will test how much weight they still carry.

Workers at the state rail operator SNCF will start downing tools two days out of every five -- a strategy aimed at limiting lost wages -- but the disruptions are likely to spill over into non-strike days as well.

They are demanding that they keep their right to a job for life and early retirement, and opposing a corporate revamp seen as the first step toward privatisation.

French law requires a minimum service during strikes, but SNCF chief Guillaume Pepy warned in the Journal Du Dimanche Sunday paper that some lines could be closed altogether.

"There will be very few trains from the evening of April 2 to the morning of April 5," said Pepy, who earlier warned that just "one train in five or one in eight" would be running.

Transport minister Elisabeth Borne, interviewed in the Sunday version of the Parisien, didn't mince her words calling the industrial action "incomprehensible".

"I frankly deplore this strike which is very punitive for the travelling public." she said.

Comparisons with Thatcher

Rail workers will be joined by striking rubbish collectors in Paris and other major cities who demand the creation of a national waste service as well as the right to early retirement.

Electricity and gas employees will also launch strike action, though it was unclear what the consequences might be for their customers.

The protests, which the SNCF has vowed to pursue for three months, follows a series of one-day strikes against Macron's multi-front reform drive.

Unions have so far failed to block any of the shake-ups made by the centrist leader since his election last year, a victory that virtually swept away the Socialist Party, long their political champion.

But by taking on the SNCF, a totem of French unionism, Macron has inevitably drawn comparisons to a previous turning point in Europe's industrial relations: Margaret Thatcher's showdown with British coal miners in 1984.

Macron may also be taking a page from former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who overruled opponents in his own leftist party in the early 2000s to enact labour and welfare reforms that set the stage for an economic rebound.

'Knocking over everything'

Yet Macron is also seizing his own particularly French moment, promising to push through the SNCF overhaul by decree before summer.

"His tactical approach is working. By constantly opening new fronts, he renders opposition to the previous one obsolete," said political expert Philippe Braud.

With French opinion divided between "resignation" and "deep conviction that things must move forward," Braud said, "the planets were aligned: So many reforms have been aborted over the past 20 years".

But France's union landscape has shifted markedly, with the hard-line CGT recently dethroned as the biggest player by the more moderate CFDT, which has refused calls for a "convergence" of the various protests.

Membership has also plummeted in line with the decline in heavy industry, with just over 11 percent of French workers unionised according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, one of the lowest levels in the EU.

Unions have nonetheless continued to punch above their weight, and even the CFDT chief Laurent Berger has warned Macron against "knocking over everything", describing his method as "You discuss, I decide".

'Political UFO'


For Braud, that decisiveness is exactly why Macron "has a good chance of succeeding with a new wave of reforms" despite weeks of protests that could spell misery for millions of commuters.

Fresh on the heels of pushing through controversial relaxations of France's strict labour rules, Macron appears eager to take advantage of his momentum.

He is also a "smart communicator" who has orchestrated "a semantic shift: reform is presented as modern," said Isabelle Clavel, a historian at Montaigne University in Bordeaux.

Macron's path has also been cleared by the "collapse of traditional parties" and his emergence as "a sort of political UFO" capable of convincing voters that his reforms will pay off.

Before that happens, however, Macron will face off with unions anxious to show they won't be pushed to the sidelines.

CGT head Philippe Martinez, whose union is the biggest at the SNCF, said this week that France was poised for another May 1968, when a series of strikes snowballed into a social revolution.


Fifty years ago, "There was no general call for a strike, but a chain reaction of mobilisations that came together," Martinez told L'Humanite newspaper.

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20 years after Viagra, Pfizer seeks another miracle drug

It has been 20 years since Viagra was introduced, and Pfizer is still searching for another drug with as much earning power as the revolutionary blue erection pill.

If anything, the chances for another miracle drug may be waning as the pharmaceutical giant constrains its research and development budget amid broader cost-cutting efforts.

Pfizer forecasts it will spend $7.4 to $7.9 billion this year on R&D, compared with $7.7 billion last year, according to projections released in February.

That is below the R&D of rivals such as Merck and Johnson & Johnson, which plan more than $10 billion in spending.

Pfizer's restraint means walking away from entire areas of medical research.

In January, the world's number two pharmaceutical company by sales ended its research programs into treatments for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, cutting 300 jobs and saying it would reinvest the funds in other domains.

Pfizer also signaled it could sell its consumer healthcare business, which includes popular over-the-counter products such as the anti-inflammatory drug Advil, multivitamin Centrum and the ubiquitous ChapStick lip balm.

Sharing the risks

Pharmaceutical R&D is a tricky business in the United States, where there is extensive clinical testing and back-and-forth with the Food and Drug Administration before introducing a new drug.

Once launched, pharma companies also are under increased pressure to keep drug costs low following a number of controversies over runaway pill prices.

The cost of bringing a new drug to market requires an average of $2.6 billion, according to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

That's a heavy investment considering that in the last 20 years there have been just 19 treatments that have generated at least $1 billion in annual revenue for their first five years, according to the QuintilesIMS Institute, a health care data and research company.

Against this backdrop, Pfizer has increasingly opted for a model where it shares the risks and benefits with other drug makers.

It has announced strategic partnerships with Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb, while also collaborating with biotechs and university researchers in areas such as oncology and immunology.

Pfizer also finances some research through a venture capital-type unit, Pfizer Venture Investments.

Acquisitions

Pfizer has had other highly lucrative drugs besides Viagra, including the anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor, the anti-depressant Zoloft and the anti-inflammatory drug Celebrex.

The company said it is confident of future success.

"Our current pipeline is poised with an opportunity to deliver up to an additional 15 potential blockbusters over the next five years," a Pfizer spokesman said.

The spokesman noted that the company's R&D budget has been "very consistent" at around $7.65 billion the last three years.

But revenue dropped slightly last year to $52.5 billion. While the group expects sales to rise in 2018, at most it would go up just five percent, according to company projections.

Key challenges include the arrival of new generic products and the growth of the biosimilar market, which allows for substitutes to traditional drugs.

The arrival of biosimilars in Europe has cut into sales of the anti-inflammatory drug Enbrel and Viagra itself has seen revenue drop as generics have been launched in the US and Europe.

Wall Street analysts consider Pfizer a likely candidate for a mega merger. Pfizer's efforts at giant takeovers of AstraZeneca and Allergan may have fizzled, but it has bought smaller companies in the very recent past.

In 2016, Pfizer acquired Medivation and Anacor, which added to its portfolio Xtandi and Eucrisa, treatments for prostate cancer and eczema.

In 2015, Pfizer supplemented its own biosimilar business with the purchase of Hospira.

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Martin Luther King Jr. quotes

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated 50 years ago -- on April 4, 1968 -- in Memphis, Tennessee.

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated 50 years ago -- on April 4, 1968 -- in Memphis, Tennessee.

Here are some of the most memorable quotes of the US civil rights leader known for his soaring rhetoric:

On racism

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

August 23, 1968 at the "March on Washington"

On the Vietnam War

"I oppose the war in Vietnam because I love America. I speak out against this war, not in anger, but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart, and, above all, with a passionate desire to see our beloved country stand as the moral example of the world. I speak out against this war because I am disappointed with America. And there can be no great disappointment where there is not great love."

April 30, 1967, Riverside Church, New York

On his legacy

"Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter."

February 4, 1968, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience and comfort, but where he stands in moments of challenge and controversy."

King's 1963 book "Strength to Love"

On good and evil

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."

December 10, 1964, Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway

His final speech

"Well, I don't know what will happen now; we've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."


April 3, 1968, Bishop Charles Mason Temple, Memphis, Tennessee

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Martin Luther King Jr: the dream, the man, the legacy

Towards the end of his life, Martin Luther King Jr. lamented that his dream had "turned into a nightmare."

The US civil rights leader was a weary man when he was cut down by an assassin's bullet at the age of 39 on the balcony of a motel in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968.

He was also a controversial man -- unlike the iconic figure celebrated today with a national holiday and an imposing granite memorial in Washington.

"He's become frozen in time -- not as the man he was in 1968, but in the image of August 1963 when he gives the 'I Have a Dream' speech," said David Farber, a history professor at the University of Kansas.

"It's easy for Americans to forget how polarizing a figure King actually was in the 1960s," Farber said.

"He'd become a really radical figure in the United States -- an outspoken opponent of American foreign policy, demanding that justice extend not just to African-Americans but to all poor Americans."


A seminal moment came in April 1967, when King made a speech in New York opposing the war in Vietnam, where more than 11,000 US troops were to die that year.

"King raised the ire of the entire civil rights movement and of government and much of the political structure when he came out against the Vietnam War," said Henry Louis Taylor Jr., director of the Center for Urban Studies at the University of Buffalo.

David Garrow, author of "Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference," said opposition to the war was seen as "fringe" at the time, and anti-war sentiment was "not widely popular like it is, say, come 1972."

'Beyond civil rights'

At the time of his murder by James Earl Ray, a white drifter with racist leanings, King had also been living for years under the constant surveillance of the FBI, which had dubbed him the "most dangerous" man in America.


And his unwavering defense of non-violence as the way to bring about change was facing a challenge from a younger, impatient generation of militant black youth.

"The final 12 months of his life, King is so exhausted, so pessimistic about the future, so depressed," Garrow said. "A dozen or more times in his final two years, he says 'The dream I had in Washington in 1963 has turned into a nightmare.'"

"One of the things we miss about King is how hard it was to do the work he's doing, the toll it takes," said Jeanne Theoharis, a political science professor at CUNY's Brooklyn College.

"How much hate, how much opposition he's facing, and how some of that is in the form of horrible violence," said Theoharis, author of "A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History."

Fifty years after his death, the vision of racial equality that King outlined on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial remains elusive.

Jason Sokol, a history professor at the University of New Hampshire, said there have been some advances for African-Americans over the years, culminating in the 2008 election of Barack Obama, American's first black president.

But racial inequalities persist, "especially when you look at black poverty, the black incarceration rate and the issue of police brutality," said Sokol, author of "The Heavens Might Crack: The Death and Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr."

Taylor, the University of Buffalo professor, stressed that by the time of his death, King's ambitions had gone "beyond civil rights to embrace human rights."


"King's dream was anchored around imagining another possible world based on economic, social, political and racial justice -- things related to a good education, decent and affordable housing, good jobs with a living wage, quality and accessible health care," he said.

"So when we add flesh to King's dream, we realize that we haven't really made much progress over the last 50 years in the realization of that dream," he said.

"While certainly there have been changes in the racial attitudes of individuals, the racism that is embedded in institutions and in structures in the United States has not changed much at all."

King's legacy

At the same time, King's legacy looms large in myriad ways.

"King said in his Nobel Prize lecture in 1964 that the Freedom Movement was spreading the widest liberation in human history," said Taylor Branch, author of "America in the King Years," a trilogy about King's life and the civil rights era.

"He was referring to worldwide and not just for black people," said Branch, an executive producer of the documentary "King in the Wilderness" which airs on HBO on Monday.

"In many respects it has succeeded beyond his imagination," Branch said.

"I don't think -- at a time when homosexual behavior was not talked about but was even criminal -- he would have dreamed we would have marriage equality," Branch said. "Or a black president. Or all the gains that have been accrued for women."

King's legacy can also be seen in the Black Lives Matter campaign against police violence and other movements for social justice, Taylor said.


"Most recently you saw it in the 'March for Our Lives' in which millions of kids all over the country took to the streets," he said.

"I'm extremely optimistic that out there we're seeing a new generation of folks in this country who are resurrecting the notion of King's dream," he said.

One of those kids at the March for Our Lives was King's nine-year-old granddaughter Yolanda Renee, who galvanized the crowd by recalling his most famous words.


"I have a dream that enough is enough," she said. "And that this should be a gun-free world, period."

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Macedonia, Greece seek to settle name spat at last

The Greek and Macedonian foreign ministers meet in Vienna on Friday for UN-mediated talks aimed at translating progress in their bitter dispute over the ex-Yugoslav republic's name into a deal.

The long-running spat, which has sparked emotional protests by thousands of people in recent weeks in both countries, has raged since Macedonia became an independent country in 1991.


Greece objects to its northern neighbour's name, arguing it suggests that Macedonia has claims to the territory and heritage of Greece's historic northern region of the same name.

In light of the Greek objections, the country joined the United Nations in 1993 with the unwieldy name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or FYROM for short.

The spat has also hampered Macedonia's hopes of joining the European Union and the NATO military alliance.

Last year, UN mediator Matthew Nimetz was able to relaunch the process, meeting both sides separately and together.


Several possible names have been doing the rounds, with "Gorna Makedonija" ("Upper Macedonia") the most frequently cited.

'Honourable compromise'

There have been signs of progress, with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and his Macedonian counterpart Nikola Dimitrov saying last week they were looking for an "honourable compromise".

Macedonia in February made a concession by renaming the capital's Alexander the Great airport as Skopje International Airport.

The motorway linking Macedonia with Greece has also just been renamed the Friendship Highway.

The UN's Nimetz said in January that he was "very optimistic the process is going in the right direction".


Athens and Skopje have a "common resolve... to solve the problem," Macedonian political scientist Nano Ruzin, a former NATO ambassador close to the government, told AFP.

Nationalists

But both countries' governments are facing the opposition of nationalists who refuse any concession over the issue.

Kotzias has received threats and a survey Sunday showed that seven out of 10 Greeks would be hostile to a name including the term Macedonia or a derivative.

In Skopje, the nationalist right-wing opposition VMRO-DPMNE party could use the issue to weaken the government, which relies on a thin majority, although its current leaders are more moderate now.

And the devil is in the detail.

Athens wants the change of name to be backed with a constitutional change, and for it be applied on the "erga omnes" ("towards all") legal principle, meaning universal use inside and outside Macedonia.

Even with the support of the ethnic Albanian minority parties, the Social Democrats who lead Macedonia's government do not have a majority to pass a constitutional change in parliament.

Before the meeting, Kotzias said that his desire for constitutional change should be translated into the "international agreement we will conclude at the UN, and the inter-state agreement we will sign."


Ruzin sees this as the Greeks leaving the door open to a staged process, with the possibility of leaving the constitutional change for later.

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Foreign companies in China brace for VPN crackdown

Chinese people and foreign firms are girding for a weekend deadline that will curb the use of unlicensed software to circumvent internet controls, as the government plugs holes in its "Great Firewall".

Chinese people and foreign firms are girding for a weekend deadline that will curb the use of unlicensed software to circumvent internet controls, as the government plugs holes in its "Great Firewall".

A virtual private network (VPN) can tunnel through the country's sophisticated barrier of online filters to access the global internet.

VPNs give users a way to see blocked websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google and Western news outlets, as well as certain business network tools such as timesheets, email and directories.

But new government regulations unveiled last year sent chills among users of the software, with a March 31 deadline for companies and individuals to only use government-approved VPNs.

Currently, many foreign companies have their own VPN servers in locations outside of China. But in the future, dedicated lines can only be provided by China's three telecom operators.

Critics have slammed the new policy as a revenue grab that will eliminate cheaper VPN options and make internet users more vulnerable to surveillance.

But some companies are still planning to comply.

"We will apply for a VPN line with (the government)," the chief executive of a foreign-owned technology company told AFP.

"As a company that is globally-focused based in Beijing, I think that's the best option... because we don't want to break the rules or have our VPN access disrupted," she said, requesting anonymity.

Some embassies in Beijing experienced disruptions to their communications due to restrictions on VPN usage late last year, prompting the European Union delegation to send a letter to the government to complain, diplomatic sources told AFP.

American Chamber of Commerce Shanghai President Kenneth Jarrett warned that foreign companies and their employees could "bear the brunt of the new policies".

"Foreign companies, especially entrepreneurs and smaller companies rely on overseas platforms such as Google Analytics and Google Scholar," Jarrett told AFP.

"Limiting access to affordable VPNs will make it harder for these companies to operate efficiently and just adds to the frustration of doing business in China."

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has dismissed concerns that using state-approved providers could jeopardise the security of private data, saying they "are not able to see information related to your business".

'At the mercy of regulators'

A member of China-based anti-censorship group GreatFire.org, which tracks internet restrictions, said the new rules are aimed at wiping out low-cost Chinese VPN providers and increasing control over access to information.

"Are foreign companies at the mercy of Chinese regulators? Yes, probably. Will there be more surveillance? Absolutely," said the member, who uses the alias Charlie Smith.

Under the new licensing regulations, it is unclear whether companies or individuals will be punished for using unauthorised VPNs, or if the software will be blocked.

But on December 21, Chinese citizen Wu Xiangyang from the south Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region was given a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence and 500,000 yuan ($76,000) fine.

Wu "illegally profited" from setting up VPN servers and selling software "without obtaining relevant business licenses", according to a news site managed by the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

It was the most severe known VPN-related conviction.

Last September, a 26-year-old man from Guangdong province was sentenced to nine months in prison in a similar case.

Samm Sacks, who researches China's technology policy at the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it is likely that China will be lenient to most foreign companies.

"We will probably see selective enforcement. So far, there have not been many foreign companies that have experienced problems with their company VPNs," Sacks said.

"It just adds a new layer of uncertainty at a time when foreign companies are already facing a host of challenges to doing business in China," she said.

In the European Chamber of Commerce in China's 2017 survey of its members, companies reported suffering from restricted internet and slow and unstable connections in China, before new VPN restrictions were announced.

"Poor internet connectivity not only damages China's efforts to portray itself as an innovative society, it also impacts overall productivity," chamber president Mats Harborn told AFP.

"Some reported losses of more than 20 percent of their annual revenue as a result."

'No, we don't sell VPNs'

Earlier this month, in the southern trade hub of Guangzhou, a small shop with the letters "VPN" painted in red on its wall said they no longer offered them.

"No, we don't sell VPNs," a Chinese shopkeeper said curtly, refusing to explain why.

But it was business as usual for a nearby store that was licensed to sell VPNs from state-owned telecommunications operator China Telecom.


"We've had no problems. Our clients are mostly Chinese and African traders who want to keep in touch using Whatsapp," a technician said.

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Happ, Springer open MLB season with homers in triumphs

Chicago Cubs leadoff hitter Ian Happ smashed the opening pitch of the 2018 Major League Baseball season for a home run Thursday as the Cubs beat the Miami Marlins 8-4.

Chicago Cubs leadoff hitter Ian Happ smashed the opening pitch of the 2018 Major League Baseball season for a home run Thursday as the Cubs beat the Miami Marlins 8-4.

Marlins pitcher Jose Urena endured a nightmare start in the first game of the new campaign, which will conclude with the World Series in October.

Happ, playing his first major league opening day after joining the Cubs in May last year, blasted the opening offering from 26-year-old Dominican right-hander Urena into the right-field stands.

It was not the first time a season's first pitch was swatted for a homer. Boston's Dwight Evans homered on the first pitch of the 1986 season at Detroit off Tigers star pitcher Jack Morris.

Happ wasn't the only leadoff hitter to homer as Houston's George Springer smacked the third pitch from Texas starter Cole Hamels over the rightfield fence to launch the new season for the World Series champion Astros.

"It felt great to hop on the first one and get us on the board," said Springer. "It's a great way to start the season."

Springer, last year's World Series Most Valuable Player, became the first season leadoff homer hitter for a defending World Series champion. He's also the only player to hit a leadoff homer on opening day in consecutive years, having also homered in last year's opener against Seattle.

Jake Marisnick also homered for the Astros in their 4-1 victory.

Happ, 23, became the youngest Cub to hit an opening-day homer since 1955. He smacked 24 homers and batted in 68 runs last year as a rookie for the Cubs.

Urena's horror show only began with the homer, however, as his first opening-day start saw the Marlins hurler surrender three runs on 57 pitches in the first inning. All nine Chicago batters came to the plate.

Happ became the first player to homer off the first pitch his team faced in a season since Japan's Kazuo Matsui in 2004 for the New York Mets.

School shooting tribute

Both teams paid tribute to the 17 people killed at a mass shooting last month at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School by wearing matches with the initials "MSD" and 17 stars.

Cubs first baseman Rizzo, who as a teen attended Stoneman Douglas, will host the school's baseball team at Friday's Marlins-Cubs game, when four families of victims or survivors are scheduled to make a ceremonial first pitch.

The Cubs showed support for the gun-control and voter registration pushes being made by student survivors, wearing special T-shirts before the game made by Cubs manager Joe Maddon's charity foundation.

"The kids are standing up for what they believe in," said Rizzo, who also homered in the game.

Ohtani singles to open

Japan's Shohei Ohtani, expected to be the first regular pitcher-batter in the major leagues since Babe Ruth's heyday a century ago, singled off the first major league pitch he saw for the Los Angeles Angels at Oakland, batting eighth in the lineup as a designated hitter in his debut after coming over from the Nippon Ham Fighters. The 23-year-old is scheduled to start on the mound Sunday against the A's.

Ohtani finished 1-for-5 as the Angels fell 6-5 in 11 innings, but said it was a day to remember.

"That (first) at-bat, I'm probably never going to forget the rest of my life," added Ohtani who is scheduled to start on the mound on Sunday for the Angels.

Dominican 38-year-old slugger Albert Pujols hit his 615th homer, seventh on the all-time list, for the Angels in the sixth inning.

An emotional pre-game ceremony before the New York Yankees opened at Toronto paid tribute to former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay, who was killed in a plane crash last November.

Halladay's sons walked to the mound and placed the ball there ahead of a moment of silence. The Blue Jays retired Halladay's number 32 jersey.


The Yankees, snapped a club-record six-opener losing streak with a 6-1 win over Toronto as Giancarlo Stanton homered twice in his Yankees debut.

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Child footballers 'offered boots and underwear for sex work'

Trainee footballers at Argentinian giants Independiente were coaxed into underage prostitution with offers of football boots or even just underwear, a Buenos Aires public prosecutor has said.

The shocking revelation of an illicit sex network operated at one of Argentina's most prestigious and successful clubs was made after a 17-year-old told an Independiente psychologist he had been encouraged, alongside another 19-year-old player, to prostitute himself to adult men in a trendy Buenos Aires neighbourhood, local press said.

Public prosecutor Maria Soledad Garibaldi has asked to meet all 50-plus boys aged between 13 and 19 housed at a boarding facility operated by the club in the Avellaneda suburb of the sprawling Argentine capital.

"Of the five boys I spoke with (on Monday), three gave me some information," said Garibaldi, quoted by local press.

"One of them told me it didn't happen, but that they had been approached. The children knew something was going on.

"They've allowed me to reveal that they were offered to do it for a pair of boots or underwear."

Football referee Martin Bustos and his lawyer have been arrested over the scandal, which was brought to the judicial authorities' attention by Independiente club bosses.

Bustos's lawyer is suspected of having destroyed a mobile phone in order to hide evidence.

According to Garibaldi, there might also be similar underage prostitution networks operated at other clubs.

"Unfortunately, that doesn't surprise me," admitted Independiente coach Ariel Holan.

"It's something that's hidden and it's a problem in society, like drugs, alcohol and human trafficking.

"It's not an issue that's confined to sport or to Independiente."

According to Andres Bonicalzi, a lawyer for a rape victims charity, young players from the vast interior of the country -- well away from Buenos Aires on the western shore of the Rio de la Plata estuary -- who are far from their families, are particularly vulnerable to exploitation.

"They see the club as a role-model, they see it as a father-figure. They're far away from their own fathers," said Bonicalzi.

"(The perpetrators) have exploited their immaturity and these children's need to belong to something."

Independiente are the fourth most successful team in Argentine history with 16 national titles, behind fellow Buenos Aires outfits River Plate (36), Boca Juniors (32) and their local rivals from Avellaneda, Racing (17).

They've also won the continental Copa Libertadores -- South America's equivalent to the UEFA Champions League -- a record seven times, having never lost a final.


Part of a multi-discipline sports organisation, Independiente has a host of different teams throughout the youth ranks as well as a football academy and an education centre for children throughout their compulsory schooling period.

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Ryder chases clubhouse leaders Glover, Tway at rain-hit Houston Open

Former US Open winner Lucas Glover and Kevin Tway ignited hopes of securing the last Masters berth on Thursday with seven-under par 65s at the rain-hit Houston Open.

Former US Open winner Lucas Glover and Kevin Tway ignited hopes of securing the last Masters berth on Thursday with seven-under par 65s at the rain-hit Houston Open.

Glover and Tway were out in the morning, teeing-off after a two-hour delay after heavy overnight rain that saturated the Golf Club of Houston course.

When darkness halted play, they were the clubhouse leaders, but American Sam Ryder was at eight-under through 15 holes and fellow American Beau Hossler was seven-under with two to play.

Thirty-four players in the field of 142 were still on the course and were to complete their rounds on Friday morning.

Glover, 38, capped his round with four straight birdies from his fifth hole and then birdied two of his closing three.

It was the South Carolina golfer's lowest tournament score by two shots in 45 rounds on the Houston course, where his best finish was seventh in 2005.

Despite owning a major title, Glover is not exempt into next week’s Masters having last competed at Augusta National in 2014.

"I like it here in Houston and I've had some success and then not, but that's every tournament, I guess, when you've been out here for 15 years," he said.

"But I do, I like it. I've got good vibes around here."

Tway, the 29-year old son of 1986 PGA Championship winner Bob Tway, highlighted his first appearance in Houston with four birdies over his closing eight holes, a good start in his quest for a win that would secure his first Masters appearance.

"Today was good and always close to home with the wind in Texas, the same in Oklahoma, so I felt pretty comfortable," he said.

"I kept the ball in play, made a few key putts. A couple up-and-downs to keep the momentum of the round going, so yeah, pleased."

If Tway should win through to the Masters he's no stranger to Augusta National having caddied many years for his illustrious father at the pre-tournament Par-3 Contest.

Rickie Fowler boosted his hopes of a first victory since capturing the Tiger Woods-hosted Hero World Challenge last December with a first-round 66.

The current World No. 8, third in Houston last year, was tied with Australian Rod Pampling, Julian Suri and Ryan Armour.

"The fairways are still pretty soggy and you have to make sure you catch the ball cleanly because if you don't it can make you look like a weekend golfer, at times, if you caught it a little heavy," Fowler said.

"But it was good to play good tee to green and also nice to make putts, including some longer ones and with the softer greens you could definitely putt more aggressively," he said.

'Good things coming' for Spieth

Struggling Jordan Spieth displayed a timely return to form, birdying his three closing holes in a four-under 68 and then marking the effort a "nine out of 10" as he looks to build confidence ahead of next week’s Masters.

"Given how I was feeling going into this week I call that a nine out of 10 for me today on the rebound on kind of where I've been my last two tournaments," he said.

"Only way it gets to 10 out of 10 is to be in the lead, right?" added Spieth, who finished with birdie putts of seven feet, six inches and three feet.


"I put in a lot of work the last few days and we're starting to get something out of it. I thought that four-under kind of felt more like a six-under to me, but that means that good things are coming."

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Out of this world Inside Japan's space colony centre

A newly created Space Colony Research centre led by Japan's first female astronaut is bringing cutting-edge technology to bear on one of mankind's greatest questions: Can we live in space?

A newly created Space Colony Research centre led by Japan's first female astronaut is bringing cutting-edge technology to bear on one of mankind's greatest questions: Can we live in space?

Tucked away in high-tech laboratories at the Tokyo University of Science, a team of 30 researchers directed by Chiaki Mukai are studying new ways to keep humans alive on a potential moon or Mars colony.

"It's in our nature to explore. The Earth is too small for us, don't you think?" asked Mukai, a petite and energetic 66-year-old who spent more than 500 hours in space on two separate missions.

Human space exploration is entering a new era, said Mukai, with commercial ventures like Elon Musk's SpaceX and US President Donald Trump's pledge to explore beyond the moon and towards Mars.

Billionaire entrepreneur Musk has grand visions for private space exploration, including sending tourists into orbit around the moon and eventually colonising Mars.

In December, Trump directed US space agency NASA to set up a lunar base as a first step in a mission to Mars.

"It's very realistic to establish a colony on the moon by 2030," said Mukai, who said humans needed to think beyond the International Space Station, which she described as a "campsite -- you have to bring everything with you".

One of her team's innovations is a unique food production system using liquid plasma created by passing high-voltage electricity through a saline solution.

This reduces the damaging algae usually formed in water when growing crops, and tests simulating conditions in space have shown that potatoes can be grown quicker and more efficiently using this system.

The Space Colony Research Centre has also developed a system to create electricity using tiny thermoelectric sensors about the size of an iPod Nano that could be attached to a potential colony.

The colony would be kept at comfortable room temperature, but outside it would vary between 130 degrees Celsius (266 Fahrenheit) during the day and -230 at night.

The technology harnesses the difference in temperature -- heat flux -- between inside and outside to create enough electricity to "power an entire space colony," said Tsutomu Lida, in charge of the project.

"The same device can be used for day and night. There are no moving parts, so there is no maintenance required," said Lida.

Another team is working on early detection and capture of space debris.

More than 29,000 pieces measuring at least 10 centimetres (four inches) across orbit Earth and could pose a danger to potential space colonists.

Space flight attendant

Mukai, who established the centre as part of the Tokyo University of Science at the beginning of the year, said many of the technologies they are working on have applications here on Earth.

"We are not only developing the technology for a moon base but as a spin-off, we will be able to help many issues that we need to solve on Earth," she said.

For example, she said hydroponic technology -- growing food without soil -- could be valuable in countries in parts of sub-Saharan Africa lacking natural resources and minerals.

Mukai said she was "certain" she would see a fully-functioning moon colony in her lifetime and was itching to go back into space, taking as her example former colleague and US astronaut John Glenn, who went into orbit aged 77.

The former heart surgeon said that with her medical expertise and extra-terrestrial experience, she could be very useful on future commercial space tourism flights.


"My dream is to get a job as a flight attendant on a commercial spaceflight so I can help to get people to the moon," she said, laughing.

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Referee warned about Smith, Warner in 2016: report

A match referee warned of disgraced Australian cricketers Steve Smith and David Warner "being involved in a ball-tampering incident" in the domestic Sheffield Shield in 2016, a media report said Friday.

The report came after Smith and Warner were stripped of the captaincy and vice-captaincy and banned for a year from the sport after being caught up in a plot to alter the condition of the ball during the third Test against South Africa on Saturday.

Daryl Harper said the pair were not engaging in fair play while representing New South Wales in a match against Victoria in November 2016, according to an email he sent to Cricket Australia's match referee and umpire selection manager Simon Taufel, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

"When David Warner repeatedly bounced his returns in to (NSW wicket-keeper) Peter Nevill on the first day, the umpires appealed to Smith to support their calls for fair play," the former Australian Test umpire reportedly wrote in the email.

"They weren't encouraged by his response. I assisted the umpires on the second morning by suggesting to (NSW coach) Trent Johnston that CA didn't need an issue with the national captain being involved in a ball-tampering incident."

Harper, who is Australian, said Smith had complained about the state of the Sydney Cricket Ground pitch after his team lost, and also "gave the impression that he wasn't happy to be playing the Sheffield Shield match".

"This was at the same time that the South African captain (Faf du Plessis) was under scrutiny (for ball tampering) and before he had been charged," Harper added.

"As it transpired, there were no further errant throws for the final three days of the game from either team. Steve's participation in the post-match meeting was quite limp, and not as I would expect from our national captain."

Cricket Australia has announced a review into team culture in the wake of the South Africa ball-tampering scandal.

Smith and Bancroft held emotional press conferences in Australia Thursday after returning from South Africa, while coach Darren Lehmann said he would quit after the fourth and final Test which starts Friday, despite being cleared of any involvement in the affair.


David Warner is due to address the media in Sydney on Saturday.

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Sweden's Lindberg surges to ANA Inspiration lead

Sweden's Pernilla Lindberg closed with back-to-back birdies to grab the first-round lead at the ANA Inspiration with a seven-under par 65.

Sweden's Pernilla Lindberg closed with back-to-back birdies to grab the first-round lead at the ANA Inspiration with a seven-under par 65.

Lindberg had seven birdies without a bogey at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, California, powering past Japan's Ayako Uehara and Spain's Beatriz Recari who shared second place on 66 in the first LPGA major of the season.

American Jessica Korda, South Korea's Jang Ha-na and Swiss amateur Albane Valenzuela were tied on 67.

Lexi Thompson -- who endured a rules nightmare last year that cost her a four-point penalty and a likely victory at Mission Hills last year -- headed a group of six players on 68.

Thompson was delighted to get a solid first round under her belt on a course she loves, but which inevitably brings back unwelcome memories of last year.

"I don't know if I would say it's a relief," she said. "I was just really looking forward to just playing this week. I love coming here, and the course can't be in any better shape. Probably the best I've seen it, and the greens are perfect.

"Overall I played really well today. So just going to take that into the next three days," said Thompson, who added she was touched by the fan support she received.

There was little to celebrate in defending champion Ryu So-yeon's return. The South Korean, who eventually beat Thompson in a playoff to lift the trophy last year, failed to make a birdie in a three-over 75.

Lindberg lights it up

Lindberg teed off on 10 and had three birdies on her outward run. Her four coming in included back-to-back birdies to cap her round.

"I just set a number for myself in my head every day," she said. "Today, I kind of kept adjusting that all day when I kept making birdies, and I even kind of upped my own number.

"That's what I'm going to do every day."

Uehara set the early pace, shaking off an opening bogey to take the clubhouse lead with eight birdies on the day.

"The beginning I had a three-putt, and I kind of played tight," said Uehara, who relaxed as she strung together three birdies around the turn and finished with two straight birdies.

Recari's six birdies included three in a row at 10th, 11th and 12th.

"From the beginning I felt very confident," Recari said after her bogey-free round. "I knew my strategy. I'll stick to it. Whenever I was in trouble I was actually in a good spot, and I was able to get up-and-down quite easily."

Korda burst out of the blocks with four straight birdies to start her round. She finished with eight birdies.

Korda is relishing golf, and life, after jaw surgery to correct a severe overbite.


"I didn't realize how much it affected me until I got the surgery done," said Korda, who won the Honda LPGA in Thailand in February, her season debut. "I'm just a happy person now. I wake up, no headaches. I get to wake up pain free every day and that's amazing to me."

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