Cuomo proposes $152.3B state budget with three-year extension to mayoral control of NYC schools

ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo wants to extend mayoral control over New York City schools through 2020, allow movie theaters to sell beer and alcohol, and tax and regulate e-cigarettes and other vapor products.

The proposals are all part of a $152.3 billion state budget proposal Cuomo unveiled Tuesday night.

Unlike last year, when the governor, who is feuding with Mayor de Blasio, sought to shift $800 million in CUNY and other funding from the state on to New York City, Cuomo said there are no such proposals in his budget plan this year.

He did suggest a three-year extension of mayoral control last year as well. But Mayor de Blasio had to settle for a one-year extender that expires this June after the Senate GOP wouldn’t budge.

Meanwhile, Cuomo’s plan would also extend a tax surcharge on the wealthy that was due to expire this coming December, continue with a middle class tax cut enacted last year, and close a $5.3 billion deficit.

Cuomo is proposing to boost education spending by $1 billion, or 4.1%, Medicaid by $567 million, or 3.2%, and spend $163 million to create a free public college tuition program for families making up to $125,000 that a source said would be covered entirely by the state.

The spending plan does not contain any contingencies for the possible repeal of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which, if not replaced, Cuomo has said could cost the state $3.7 billion.

In seeking to tax vapor products, Cuomo would expand the definition of tobacco products to include e-cigarettes, hookah pens and vape pens. He would impose a tax rate of 10-cents per milliliter.

Source:-nydailynews

Saudi Arabia denounces Iran over decision to not send Hajj pilgrims this year

Saudi Arabia has denounced Iran over its decision not to send its pilgrims to the annual Hajj and has also criticised Tehran's demand regarding right to organise demonstrations during the Hajj and to have privileges.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said this in a joint press briefing with his British counterpart Philip Hammond in Jeddah yesterday.

He termed the Tehran's demand as unacceptable as it would cause chaos during the annual event.

Jubeir said, Saudi Arabia annually signs a hajj memorandum of understanding with more than 70 countries to guarantee the security and safety of pilgrims.

However, Iran this year refused to sign the memorandum.

Earlier, Iran's Haj and Pilgrimage Organisation announced that the country's pilgrims would not attend pilgrimage.

Iran has blamed regional rival Saudi Arabia for sabotage and failing to guarantee the safety of its pilgrims. Relations between the two countries plummeted after hundreds of Iranians died in a crush during last year's Hajj.

Earlier, Iran had boycotted the Hajj for three years after 402 pilgrims, mostly Iranians, died in clashes with Saudi security forces in an anti-US and anti-Israel rally in Mecca in 1987.

Source: http://zeenews.india.com

Mark Zuckerberg Announces Investigation Into Anti-Conservative Bias

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded to accusations its company's "trending" topics list was suppressing conservative media, saying on Thursday the company was conducting an investigation.

No evidence of alleged manipulation had been found, but "if we find anything against our principles, you have my commitment that we will take additional steps to address it," Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post.

Tech news outlet Gizmodo reported on Monday that a former Facebook worker alleged that articles from politically conservative outlets -- particularly when written about conservative subjects -- were deliberately omitted from Facebook's sidebar of popular stories.

The social media giant has denied the allegations amid outrage over the claims.

Facebook said the popularity of news stories was determined by an algorithm, then audited -- never manipulated -- by review team members to confirm that the topics were in fact trending news items.

However according to Gizmodo, which also spoke to other former employees, stories covered by conservative media that were trending enough to be picked up by Facebook's algorithm were only included if they were also covered by "mainstream sites" such as The New York Times, the BBC or CNN.

There was no evidence that management mandated or was aware of any political bias at work, Gizmodo reported, noting that one former worker "described the omissions as a function of his colleagues' judgements."

Gizmodo reported that workers were told to put stories deemed as important by management in the trending news feed even if they weren't generating much buzz.

The charges unleashed a fierce debate in the US media and on the social network itself, which has around 1.6 billion users around the globe.

In his post, Zuckerberg also announced plans to invite "leading conservatives and people from across the political spectrum" to talk with him about accusations of political bias at Facebook.

SOurce: http://www.ndtv.com/