Ghosts of past tech IPOs could haunt Snap’s performance

Snap Inc appears set to make a splash next week with the biggest tech stock debut since Facebook Inc, but history suggests investors shut out of the initial public offering would be better off waiting a bit to chase this unicorn on the open market.

Globally, shares of most of the 25 largest technology IPOs have languished in their first 12 months on the public market, with 16 of them notching a hefty decline from their debut day closing price, according to a Reuters analysis of market performance.

Eight of the 10 biggest fell by between 25% and 71%.

Among U.S. tech IPOs, 14 of the 25 biggest fell in their first year, including nine of the 15 to raise at least $1 billion in their listings. Declines ranged from 9% to more than 80%.

Snap, the company behind the popular Snapchat app, is expected to raise between $2.8 billion and $3.2 billion, which could vault it into the five largest global tech IPOs of all time, according to Thomson Reuters Deals Intelligence data. It would rank third on the U.S.-only list.

Company executives have been on the road for the last week meeting with potential investors, and Thomson Reuters IFR reported on Friday that the deal is oversubscribed, meaning far more fund managers want a slice than can be accommodated.

Potential IPO buyers appear willing to look past concerns about the company’s governance and lack of profitability and see it as a vehicle to play a red-hot market for tech stocks, the leading sector so far in 2017.

The deal is expected to price next week, and the stock will start trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SNAP on March 2. One red flag

Still, the track record for the largest tech IPOs may be one red flag.

The median year-one performance among the biggest tech debuts globally was a decline of 22.3%, with big stumbles among marquee names like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Facebook, ranked Nos. 1 and 2 respectively. Each dropped about 30% in their first 52 weeks. One did not even survive a year: World Online BV, ranked as the No. 6 tech IPO of all time. The Netherlands-based internet service provider raised $2.8 billion in March 2000, the month marking the peak of the dot-com bubble, and slid 68% before being bought by Italy’s Tiscali SpA 10 months later. The U.S. tech group, which suffered from the inclusion of notable casualties from the internet stock bust of the early 2000s, such as Palm Inc, Viasystems Group, Genuity and Infonet, had a median decline of 17.2% in their first year.

And unicorns like Snap are no exception to the rule. The last five tech names in the U.S. top 25 with a pre-IPO valuation north of $1 billion, Groupon Inc, Zynga Inc, Facebook, Twitter Inc and Fitbit Inc, all nosedived in their first year.Only Facebook has since recovered.

Some notable out performers do dot the list.

Alphabet Inc stands out as the top year-one performer both globally and domestically. Debuting as Google in August 2004, it soared nearly 180% in its first year. Next best was German electronics company EPCOS AG, which is now private but gained 140% after its October 1999 IPO.

For some of the most prominent names on the list, performance did turn a corner after that dismal first year.

Facebook, which raised $16 billion in May 2012 only to have technical glitches mar its debut on Nasdaq, lost more than half its value in its first four months of trading. But its shares have been off to the races since, surging more than 660% from their low-water mark that September to more than 250% above the day-one closing price.

Alibaba’s shares, which rose more than 30% in their first month only to falter over most of the next two years, are also back in the black, though barely.

The stock is up about 9 % from its closing price on Sept. 19, 2014, having gained nearly 80% from its low point a year after the IPO.

By the end of either year five or their latest price, whichever is longer, the biggest U.S. tech IPOs posted a median gain of 29.1%.

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'I just did what was right to do,' says American who stood up for the two Indians

Twenty-four-year-old Ian Grillot, who stood up for Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, when they were racially abused by Adam Purinton has said he did what was right to do. He was injured in the shooting that followed, which killed Kuchibhotla.

Bartender Garret Bohnen told the Kansas City Star that Kuchibhotla and Mr. Madasani stopped at Austins for a drink once or twice a week.
“From what I understand when he was throwing racial slurs at the two gentlemen [Kuchibhotla and Madasani], Ian [Grillot] stood up for them,” Mr. Bohnen said. “We’re all proud of him.”

Witnesses told The Star that Purinton, 51, yelled “get out of my country” before opening fire.

Mr. Grillot said in an interview from his hospital bed that when the shooting broke out, he hid until nine shots were fired and he thought the suspect’s gun magazine was empty.

“I got up and proceeded to chase him down, try to subdue him,” Mr. Grillot said in a video from the University of Kansas Health System posted on The Star website. “I got behind him and he turned around and fired a round at me.”
Mr. Grillot said the bullet went through his hand and into his chest, just missing a major artery.

“It’s not about where he [victim] was from or his ethnicity,” Mr. Grillot said. “We’re all humans, so I just did what was right to do.”

U.S. Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas posted a statement on Facebook, saying he was very disturbed by the shooting. “I strongly condemn violence of any kind, especially if it is motivated by prejudice and xenophobia,” he said.
Brian Eric Ford, 39, set up the account on GoFundMe, jointly for the family of Kuchibhotla and Mr. Madasani.

“I’ve been pretty closely following the rise in white nationalism since the election,” the Kansas City graphic artist told The Star. “I thought this was a chance to do something to show support for these communities that are being attacked.”

As of Thursday night, 816 people had contributed $29,726 to the fund, which has a target of $50,000.                    

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Hillary, Trump forge ahead

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush dropped out of the race for Republican presidential nomination after finishing fifth in the South Carolina primary that was won by Donald Trump. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton won the Nevada caucus, beating Senator Bernie Sanders by five percentage points, a margin much lower than predicted even weeks ago.

Mr Bush’s exit from the scene has narrowed the Republican race to three people — Mr Trump and Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, all of who made triumphant speeches after the results. Mr Bush’s emotive exit speech marked, more than the unpredictability of politics in general, the unprecedented course that the current presidential election cycle has set on. Bush was the obvious choice when the race began and raised a war chest of $ 100 million with hardly any effort. But it all ended rather ingloriously on Saturday evening. “The people of Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken and I really respect their decision, so tonight I am suspending my campaign,” he said. Mr Bush had the most formidable endorsements from the Republican establishment and donors. Mr Trump had won New Hampshire also, while Mr Cruz won Iowa.

No Republican of worth has endorsed Mr Trump, the winner, and on top of it, he ended up last week with a public disapproval from the Pope for his consistent advocacy for a wall along the U.S southern border with Mexico. The Pope reportedly said those who seek to build walls were not good Christians. “The wall just got 10 feet higher,” Mr Trump declared after the victory in S.C with 32.5 percent votes. “Who will pay for the wall?” he asked rhetorically. “Mexico….”the crowd replied.

Mr Rubio who finished second with 22.5 per cent and Mr Cruz, who finished a close third with 22.3 per cent votes, both claimed to represent the voice of evangelical and conservative constituencies. "If it is God's will that we should win this election, then history will say that on this night in South Carolina, we took the first step forward in the beginning of a new American century,” Mr Rubio said, while Mr Cruz said his strong performance showed that a “Bible-believing Christian can in fact win.”

With Mr Bush’s exit from the scene, the Republican establishment and donors will now flock behind Mr Rubio, who was once his protegee. In fact, the last minute endorsement by S.C Governor Nikki Haley appears to have boosted Mr Rubio’s chances that were dimmed after his disastrous performance in New Hampshire.

Both Mr Rubio and Mr Cruz said nice words about Mr Bush to win over his supporters, but Mr Trump said nothing. Mr Trump has been savage in his attacks on Mr Bush throughout the campaign. In his victory speech, the winner rubbished the punditry that as more candidates dropped out, those votes will aggregate behind the most formidable anti-Trump candidate. “I will also get a share of those votes,” he said.

Not a single-issue country: Hillary

After winning Nevada, Ms Clinton took pot shots at rival Mr Sanders whose campaign has been singularly focused on economic inequality. “The truth is, we aren't a single-issue country," she said in her victory speech.

Ms Clinton and Mr Sanders are leaving no stone upturned to win the black and Hispanic votes that will make or mar their prospects in the days ahead. Their ads and political speeches now focus on these voters.

"We have come a very long way in nine months," Mr Sanders said after the results. "We have the momentum," he said adding that his campaign was well on the way to creating “one of the great political upsets in American history."

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Republican candidates look to make most of Trump’s absenc

2016 Republican presidential candidates strained to take advantage of a rare opportunity to step out of Donald Trump’s shadow in Thursday night’s presidential debate, after mocking the front-runner for boycotting the final contest before voting begins.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is locked in a tight contest with Mr. Trump in Iowa, opened the debate with a sarcastic impression of the real estate mogul’s frequent insults of his opponents.

“I’m a maniac and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat and ugly,” Mr. Cruz said, before thanking his fellow candidates for showing Iowa voters respect by showing up.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a frequent target of Mr. Trump, said with a wry smile, “I kind of miss Donald Trump; he was a teddy bear to me.”

Never one to go quietly, Mr. Trump was holding a competing rally elsewhere in Des Moines, an event his campaign said was raising money for military veterans.

“When you’re treated badly, you have to stick up for your rights,” Mr. Trump said in explaining he was skipping the debate because he felt Fox News had dealt with him unfairly. “We have to stick up for ourselves as people and we have to stick up for our country if we’re being mistreated.”

Thursday’s debate comes four days before the Iowa caucuses kick off the 2016 nominating contest. Residents will choose among the Republican and Democratic candidates in the first of a series of state-by-state contests to choose delegates to each party’s convention.

With their White House hopes on the line, the candidates moved quickly to cast themselves as best prepared to be commander in chief and take on terror threats emanating both from abroad and within the United States.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio struck an aggressive posture, pledging that as president, he would go after terrorists “wherever they are. And if we capture them alive, we’re sending them to Guantanamo.” Rubio also stood by his previous calls for shutting down mosques in the U.S if there were indications that the Muslim religious centers were being used to radicalize terrorists.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul back on the main debate stage after being downgraded to an undercard event because of low poll numbers earlier this month warned against closing down mosques. A proponent of a more isolationist foreign policy, Paul also raised concerns about the U.S. getting involved militarily in Syria, where the Islamic State has a stronghold.

The candidates largely sidestepped direct confrontations with each other, focusing some of their most pointed attacks on Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

“She is not qualified to be president of the United States,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said. “What we need is someone on that stage who has been tested who has been through it.”

Christie is part of a crowded field of more mainstream candidates who have struggled to break through in an election year where Trump, and increasingly Cruz, has tapped into voter anger with the political system. Party leaders have grown increasingly antsy for some of the more traditional candidates to step aside after the first contests to allow one to rise up and challenge for the nomination.

Asked whether the crowded establishment lane was putting Trump in position to be the nominee, Bush said, “We’re just starting out. The first vote hasn’t been counted. Why don’t we let the process work?”

Mr. Trump pulled out of the debate this week, citing unfair treatment from host Fox News. He’s feuded with the network for months, particularly anchor and debate moderator Megyn Kelly.

It’s unclear whether Mr. Trump’s unusual move will hurt his standing with Iowa voters. But his absence did give his rivals more time to make their case to voters.

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Obama remains neutral in Democratic presidential race

President Barack Obama would stay “even-handed” in the Democratic nomination process according to Senator Bernie Sanders who has mounted a tough challenge to front runner Hillary Clinton. Mr. Sanders who met Mr. Obama on Wednesday said neither did he seek the President’s endorsement for his candidacy nor did the President offer it, though both discussed politics.

“I think he and the Vice-President have tried to be fair and even-handed in the process, and I expect they will continue to do that,” Mr. Sanders said after the meeting, which took place two days after some comments by Mr. Obama were widely interpreted as his preference for Ms. Clinton.

It was Mr. Obama’s comments to Politico that prompted the chatter that he supports Ms. Clinton, but a closer and complete reading of the interview shows the President keen to maintain his neutrality while appreciating the qualities of both Ms. Clinton and Mr. Sanders. His answer to the concluding question — “How personally gratifying for you would it be to have the first female President succeed the first African-American President?” — was instructive.

“Well, my No. 1 priority is having a Democratic President succeed me, and I think there’s no doubt that, given our history, I want more women in politics generally, and I want my daughters to feel that there’s nothing that they can’t do. I don’t think that Democrats are going to vote for Hillary just because she’s a woman any more than they’re going to vote for Bernie just because they agree with him on one particular issue. I think, you know, voters are pretty sophisticated. They’re going to take all these things into account. I am proud of the fact that the Democratic Party represents today the breaking down of all sorts of barriers and a belief that you judge people on what they bring to the table and not what they look like or who they love or their last name…” Mr. Obama had said.

Mr. Obama’s comments also became a talking point in the Democratic debate on Monday. Mr. Sanders who had policy disagreements with the President on several occasions, said after both met on Wednesday: “There’s no secret that we have, as is the case in a democratic society, we have differences of opinion… I was on the floor of the Senate disagreeing with him over taxes. We disagree over the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. By and large, over the last seven years on major issue after major issue, I have stood by his side to where he has taken on unprecedented Republican obstructionism, has tried to do the right thing for the American people.”

White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said Mr. Sanders and Mr. Obama discussed the campaign too, which was an occasion for the President to “reminisce a little bit about his own experience campaigning for president — both in terms of drawing big crowds, but also spending some time talking to people in more out-of-the-way places.”

Mr. Sanders he was not hoping to draw as big a support as Mr. Obama did in 2008 in Iowa, the first primary State, next week. Conceding that his popularity is not as huge as Mr. Obama’s in 2008, Mr. Sanders said, he, however, hoped to win Iowa next week.

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U.S. airstrikes destroy second site of IS cash reserves

U.S. warplanes have reportedly destroyed a large Islamic State (IS) bank in Iraq’s Mosul city housing an estimated $45 million, the second time in over a week that such a facility of the terror group has been bombed.

American warplanes destroyed the IS bank in Mosul late on Tuesday night, a senior U.S. defense official told Fox News.

Second such instance

This was the second such instance in over a week that the U.S. military has targeted an IS finance centre holding significant cash reserves.

The U.S. dropped two 2,000-pound (900-kilogramme) bombs on January 10 in central Mosul destroying the building containing huge amounts of cash. The airstrike had destroyed the ISIS building reportedly housing an estimated $90 million.

The building targeted in Tuesday’s strike housed an estimated $45 million in dollars and Iraqi dinars, according to officials.

Crushing the IS

Reports indicated the collective strikes on the two sites are “crushing” IS, another senior defence official was quoted as saying.

It has been reported that IS salaries to its fighters and civil servants have been significantly reduced as a result of the strikes.

The group’s Bayt al-Mal, the Treasury Ministry, has decided to cut the salaries of its fighters in half due to the “exceptional circumstances” IS has been witnessing, The Jerusalem Post said, citing new documents released last month.

The terror group reportedly did not explain exactly what those “exceptional circumstances” were.

U.S. targeting IS-infested Mosul

Around 2,000 IS fighters occupy the 1.5-million Sunni-majority city of Mosul, according to estimates from the Iraqi military. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi has said recently that he wants Mosul retaken by the end of 2016 and the IS destroyed.

In the past weeks, the U.S.-led air campaign has increased its airstrikes in and around Mosul, the largest IS stronghold in Iraq.

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Powerball lottery jackpot soars to $1.3 billion in world record

The U.S. multi-State Powerball lottery on Sunday soared to a whopping $1.3 billion in a new world record, tickling Americans’ dreams further of overnight riches after there were no winners for a record $900 million jackpot.

No ticket holder had the magic combination of 32-16-19- 57-34 and the Powerball number 13.

The next drawing for the Powerball lottery, which takes place on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10.59 p.m. (9.29 a.m. IST) has shot to a whopping $1.3 billion.

The grand prize for the lottery, which is played in 44 States, Washington, and two U.S. territories, has been climbing for weeks after repeated drawings produced no big winners.

The jackpot began on November 4, 2015 at $40 million but rolled over 19 times before Saturday.

Millions of Americans had flocked to buy tickets as the size of the pot surged.

But, the Saturday night drawing for a record $900 million jackpot — the largest in U.S. history — produced no winners, fuelling excitement of being a potential winner even more.

“No #Powerball jackpot winners in any state tonight. Wednesday’s jackpot is a new WORLD RECORD! Can you believe it?” Texas Lottery tweeted.

In the Powerball lottery, five white balls are drawn from a drum containing 69 balls while a sixth red one is pulled from a drum with 26. A ticket holder has to match all the numbers on the selected balls to win the jackpot.

The first five can be in any order, but the sixth must be the Powerball number.

The winner can either opt to receive the full jackpot in annual instalments over 29 years or take a lower one-off payment in cash.

Gary Grief, the executive director of the Texas Lottery was quoted as saying by the Chicago Tribune that the chance of no one hitting all five initial numbers and the Powerball number was growing slimmer, anticipating that about 75 per cent of all combinations will have been bought.

The U.S. saw sales of $277 million on Friday alone and more than $400 million expected on Saturday, Mr. Grief said.

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U.S. flies straight into Korean standoff

The United States deployed a B-52 bomber on a low-level flight over its ally South Korea on Sunday, a show of force following North Korea’s nuclear test last week.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un maintained that Wednesday’s test was of a hydrogen bomb and said it was a self-defensive step against a U.S. threat of nuclear war.

North Korea’s fourth nuclear test angered both China, its main ally, and the United States, although the U.S. government and weapons experts doubt the North's claim that the device was a hydrogen bomb.

The massive B-52, based in Guam and capable of carrying nuclear weapons, could be seen in a low flight over Osan Air Base at around noon (0300 GMT). It was flanked by two fighter planes, a U.S. F-16 and a South Korean F-15, before returning to Guam, the U.S. military said in a statement.

Osan is south of Seoul and 77 km from the Demilitarised Zone that separates the two Koreas. The flight was “in response to recent provocative action by North Korea,” the U.S. military said.

“The United States remains steadfast in its commitment to the defence of the Republic of Korea [South Korea] and to maintaining stability on the Korean Peninsula, to include extended deterrence provided by our conventional forces and our nuclear umbrella,” said U.S. Lt. Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy.

After the North’s last test, in 2013, the United States sent a pair of nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers over South Korea. At the time, the North responded by threatening a nuclear attack on the U.S.

U.S. is also considering sending a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to waters off the Korean peninsula next month to join a naval exercise with Seoul, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported without identifying a source.

However, U.S. military officials said they knew of no such plan.

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‘Guns are our shared responsibility’

The epidemic of gun violence in our country is a crisis. Gun deaths and injuries constitute one of the greatest threats to public health and to the safety of the American people. Every year, more than 30,000 Americans have their lives cut short by guns. Suicides.

Domestic violence. Gang shootouts. Accidents. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost brothers and sisters, or buried their own children. We’re the only advanced nation on earth that sees this kind of mass violence with this frequency.

A national crisis like this demands a national response. Reducing gun violence will be hard. It’s clear that common-sense gun reform won’t happen during this Congress. It won’t happen during my presidency. Still, there are steps we can take now to save lives. And all of us — at every level of government, in the private sector and as citizens — have to do our part. We all have a responsibility.

Executive action
On Tuesday, I announced new steps I am taking within my legal authority to protect the American people and keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous people. They include making sure that anybody engaged in the business of selling firearms conducts background checks, expanding access to mental health treatment and improving gun safety technology. These actions won’t prevent every act of violence, or save every life — but if even one life is spared, they will be well worth the effort.

Even as I continue to take every action possible as President, I will also take every action I can as a citizen. I will not campaign for, vote for or support any candidate, even in my own party, who does not support common-sense gun reform. And if the 90 per cent of Americans who do support common-sense gun reforms join me, we will elect the leadership we deserve.

All of us have a role to play — including gun owners. The gun industry also needs to do its part. And that starts with manufacturers.

Power of gun lobby
Today, the gun industry is almost entirely unaccountable. Thanks to the gun lobby’s decades of efforts, Congress has blocked our consumer products safety experts from being able to require that firearms have even the most basic safety measures. They’ve made it harder for the government’s public health experts to conduct research on gun violence. Ultimately, this is about all of us. We must find the courage and the will to mobilise, organised and do what a strong, sensible country does in response to a crisis like this one.

All of us need to demand leaders brave enough to stand up to the gun lobby’s lies. All of us need to stand up and protect our fellow citizens. All of us need to demand that Governors, Mayors and our representatives in Congress do their part.

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Man distracted by electronic device dies in fall from cliff

A 33-year-old man, apparently distracted by an electronic device, died when he fell 50 to 60 feet from the top of a cliff in the U.S. State of California.

The incident happened when the man — who may have been distracted by a cell-phone or camera — fell from the top of Sunset Cliffs on Christmas Day, San Diego lifeguards said.

Dies at scene

Lifeguards and San Diego Fire-Rescue Department personnel responded and rappelled to the bottom of the cliffs, where they attempted to revive and rescue the man, Los Angeles Times reported.

He died at the scene.

Witnesses told lifeguards that the man may have been distracted by some kind of an electronic device, Marine Safety Lieutenant Rich Stropky said on Saturday.

No further details were immediately available, the report said.

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Texas storms, tornadoes kill at least 11

Tornadoes swept through the Dallas area, leaving substantial damage and at least 11 people dead either from the storm or related traffic accidents, in the latest of a succession of freakish winter weather events across the country.

The Texas tornadoes that touched down after dark on Saturday followed days of tumultuous weather in the Southeast, including unusual winter tornadoes that left 18 people dead there over the Christmas holiday period.

Full extent of damage unknown yet

National Weather Service Meteorologist Anthony Bain in Fort Worth said several tornadoes touched down in the Dallas area, although the full extent of damage would not be known until daylight Sunday.

The storms left homes had roofs blown away, vehicles mangled or turned upside down, churches damaged, power lines down, natural gas lines burst, trees toppled and debris strewn across neighborhoods. The damage stretched over about a 40-mile (64-kilometer)-long area from 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Dallas to northeast of the city.

Lt. Pedro Barineau, of the police in Garland, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Dallas, said in a Sunday morning news conference that the death toll now stands at eight after a tornado struck there Saturday night.

Three other people died in Collin County, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) northeast of Dallas, according to Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Havey, although the circumstances were not immediately clear.

Red Cross: shelters for the homeless

The Red Cross said it was setting up shelters for people whose homes were damaged by the storm.

“I think everyone understands now the gravity of what happened,” Anita Foster, spokeswoman for American Red Cross of North Texas, said on WFAA television.

The twisters accompanied by torrential rain, wind and some hail were part of a weather system that could produce major flooding from north Texas through eastern Oklahoma, eastern Kansas, western Arkansas and parts of Missouri.

Passengers waiting for flights at Love Field, a major Dallas airport, were moved away from windows during the storm. Flights were temporarily halted from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The Dallas Mavericks NBA game was delayed about half-an-hour because of the storm.

Snowstorm to leave 16 inches of snow

On the other side of Texas, a snowstorm accompanied by plunging temperatures, was expected to leave up to 16 inches (40 centimeters) of snow in West Texas and much of New Mexico through Sunday evening, according to NWS meteorologist Brendon Rubin-Oster in College Park, Maryland.

In the Southeast, two more deaths linked to weather were reported Saturday in Mississippi, bringing that state’s death toll from severe weather over Christmas to 10. Late Saturday, one death was reported in Alabama.

Flash flooding closes roads

Flash flooding closed roads across Alabama and trapped motorists in rapidly rising waters.

Ranager Tyler and his son waded into floodwater Christmas night and used rope to pull an 11-year-old boy out after his family’s car was swept away near Pinson, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northeast of Birmingham. “The little boy was hanging on to the back of the car,” Mr. Tyler said on Saturday.

The family’s car was overcome with floodwater and ended up in a ditch near Mr. Tyler’s Pinson home. The rushing water separated the family as they got out of the car, he said. The boy was later reunited with his family.

56 injuries reported

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesman Greg Flynn said 56 injuries were reported. In a statement, Mr. Flynn said preliminary damage estimates showed 241 homes were destroyed or severely damaged.

More than 400 homes in total were affected, he said. Severe storms are forecast for Sunday night through Monday as a strong cold front pushes through. Tornadoes are possible, and residents are asked to remain alert.

The flooding is the result of heavy downpours that have thrashed the south-eastern U.S. since Wednesday, bringing record rainfalls in some areas. Four inches (100 millimetres) of rain walloped the city of Mobile, Alabama, on Wednesday smashing the previous record of 2.2 inches (56 millimetres) set in 1990.

Six people were killed in Tennessee, including three who were found in a car submerged in a creek, according to the Columbia Police Department. The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said Saturday that authorities were monitoring areas for possible flooding.

One person died in Arkansas, and dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed.

Southeast to see better weather

Better weather was forecast for the Southeast. Temperatures in the eastern third of the country could set numerous records highs Sunday, Mr. Rubin-Oster said. Washington, D.C., could see a record daily temperature of 73 degrees (23 Celsius), New York City 65 (18 Celsius) which would break a record of more than 50 years and Orlando, Florida could tie a record of 86 degrees (30 Celsius) set in 1921.

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Nothing like family to win over voters, unless your name is Bush

One closes every speech with the heartfelt tale of his bartender father; another invokes her newborn granddaughter while musing about future generations.

And then there are the far more famous father and brother who seldom get a mention unless explicitly asked about.

Family members may not be physically present for the most part on the 2016 presidential campaign trail, but their presence is routinely felt as candidates crisscross the country seeking ways to resonate with voters.

Rubio’s humble beginnings

An integral part of Marco Rubio’s pitch are his humble beginnings, as the son of Cuban immigrants who worked as a bartender and a maid — struggling, like so many, to make ends meet for their children.

“That journey from behind that bar to behind this podium — that’s the essence of the American dream,” the Florida senator says at the end of his stump speech.

Texas senator Ted Cruz, also Cuban-American, paints a similar picture for his audiences with the story of his father, Rafael Cruz. “He arrived with only $100 sewn into his underwear” after fleeing the Batista dictatorship, Mr. Cruz says, in an ode to the promise of America.

For Hillary Clinton, it’s granddaughter Charlotte who gets a starring role to show off the Democratic frontrunner’s more relatable side. There have been references to babysitting and the many firsts that Clinton says she and husband Bill celebrate as though “nobody has ever done it before”.

And as a staple, she concludes many speeches by holding up Charlotte as a primary source of concern for future generations. “You should not have to be the grandchild of a former President to know that you can make it in America,” Ms. Clinton has said.

At a time when politicians are more disliked than ever before, the family tales that might seem trite to insiders are instead a campaign’s best weapon to humanise a candidate. Rather than seeming “out of touch”, a frequent criticism of those seeking the presidency, relatives can be effectively deployed to persuade voters that a candidate does, in fact, understand the struggles of everyday Americans.

At a recent event in Iowa, Mr. Rubio rolled out a plan for veterans with his brother — a former Army Green Beret — by his side. But not every sibling or parent is viewed as an asset on the campaign trail.

Behind the scenes, Jeb Bush’s influential family have rallied behind him in courting an extensive network of donors — and keeping troops in line as the former Florida Governor’s campaign has fallen in dramatic fashion. But in public, Mr. Bush has been reluctant to embrace his legacy as the son and brother of U.S. Presidents number 41 and 43.

Even as Mr. Bush has professed his love for his family — his dad, he often says, “is the best man I’ve ever met” — he has repeatedly insisted, “I’m my own man.”

W’s troubling legacy

The implications of George W. Bush’s complicated record were evident even before Jeb Bush formally entered the race — notably when it took days for the younger Bush to definitively state his view of the Iraq war when asked if it was, in hindsight, a mistake.


If Jeb would really rather keep his family in the wings, Mr. Cruz, the surging conservative seems sometimes at risk of being overshadowed by his own preacher father.

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U.S. seeks to avoid IS prophecy

As the debate on how best to contain the Islamic State continues to rage in Western capitals, the militants themselves have made one point patently clear: They want the U.S. and its allies to be dragged into a ground war.

In fact, when the U.S. first invaded Iraq, one of the most enthusiastic proponents of the move was the man who founded the terrorist cell that would one day become the IS, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He excitedly called the Americans’ 2003 intervention “the Blessed Invasion”.

His reaction — ignored by some, and dismissed as rhetoric by others — points to one of the core beliefs motivating the terrorist group now holding large stretches of Iraq and Syria: the group bases its ideology on prophetic texts stating that Islam will be victorious after an apocalyptic battle to be set off once Western armies come to the region.

Should that invasion happen, the IS would not only be able to declare its prophecy fulfilled, but could also turn the occurrence into a new recruiting drive at the very moment when the terror group appears to be losing volunteers.

It is partly that theory that President Barack Obama referred to in his speech on Sunday, when he said the U.S. should pursue a “sustainable victory” that involves airstrikes and supports local forces battling the IS rather than sending a new generation of American soldiers into a ground offensive.

“I have said it repeatedly: Because of these prophecies, going in on the ground would be the worst trap to fall into. They want troops on the ground. Because they have already envisioned it,” said Jean-Pierre Filiu, a professor of Middle East Studies at Sciences Po in Paris, and the author of Apocalypse in Islam, one of the main scholarly texts exploring the scripture that the militants base their ideology on.

The IS’s propaganda is rife with references to apocalyptic prophecy about the last great battle that sets the stage for the end times.

The specific scripture they are referring to describes a battle in Dabiq as well as al-Amaq, small towns that still exist in northern Syria. The countdown to the apocalypse begins once the “Romans” — a term that militants have now conveniently expanded to include Americans and their allies — set foot in Dabiq.

Last year, when IS militants beheaded American hostage Peter Kassig, a former U.S. Army Ranger, they made sure to do it in Dabiq.

“Here we are, burying the first American crusader in Dabiq, eagerly waiting for the remainder of your armies to arrive,” the executioner announced.

Dabiq is now the name of the IS’s monthly online magazine. Meanwhile, Amaq is the name the militants have chosen for their semi-official news agency.

How to undo IS is a matter of intense debate. As the U.S. prepares for a general election, Republican contenders are pushing for a ground invasion, with Sen. Ted Cruz vowing to “carpet-bomb them into oblivion”.

Regardless of a ground intervention’s potential to succeed, some veteran analysts caution that the act of invasion would play handily into the group’s prophetic vision.

“To break the dynamic, you have to debunk the prophecy,” Filiu said. “You need to do so via a military defeat, like taking over Raqqa. But it needs to be by local forces — by Sunni Arabs.”

That so far has been the approach of the Obama administration, which has armed as well as provided air support to a number of militias in northern Iraq and Syria, hoping to give a local veneer to the tip of the sword

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Threat from radical jihadism now more complex, challenging: Clinton

Asserting that the threat from radical jihadism has metastasized and become more complex and challenging, leading Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said the results of radicalism have now reached American shores.

In her remarks before the top American think tank, Ms. Clinton stressed the importance of cracking down on the ability of ISIS and other terrorist groups to communicate and spread propaganda online.

“The need for action (against terrorists) is urgent. ...

The threat from radical jihadism has metastasized and become more complex and challenging. We’re seeing the results of radicalism not just in far-off lands but right here at home, fuelled by the Internet,” Ms. Clinton said in her address to the Brookings Institution’s Saban Forum 2015.

“It’s the nexus of terrorism and technology and we have a lot of work to do to end it. As hard as this is, Americans now has to move from fear to resolve. America has beaten bigger threats before, and we will defeat this one as well,” she said.

Resolve, she said, means depriving jihadists of virtual territory just as the U.S. works to deprive them of actual territory. They are using websites, social media, chat rooms, and other platforms to celebrate beheadings, recruit future terrorists, and call for attacks.

“We should work with host companies to shut them down.

It’s time for an urgent dialogue between the government and not just our government, but government and the high-tech community to confront this problem together,” Ms. Clinton said.

The former Secretary of State said the goal should be to defeat ISIS and not contain them.

“Muslim-Americans are our neighbours, co-workers, loved ones, friends. Many are working every day all over our country to prevent radicalisation. We should be supporting them, not scapegoating them,” she said.

“But at the same time, none of us can close our eyes to the fact that we do face enemies who use Islam to justify slaughtering innocent people. We have to stop them and we will. Radical jihadists, like so many adversaries in our history, underestimate the strength of our national character,” she asserted.

“Americans will not cower or cave. And we will not turn on each other or turn on our principles. We will defeat those who threaten us,” she said.

Ms. Clinton said on Sunday, three trends in the region and the world are converging and making its alliance with Israel more indispensable than ever.

“The first is a rising tide of extremism across a wide arc of instability from North Africa to South Asia. The second is Iran’s continued aggression. And the third is the growing effort to de-legitimise Israel on the world stage. America and Israel need to address these threats together. And we must take an already strong relationship to the next level,” she said.

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Obama, Hollande seek shift in Russian strategy before joint action

United States and France on Tuesday said they would like Russia to be part of their joint efforts to fight the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, but put the onus on Russia to prove its credentials by giving up its support to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

Hours after NATO member Turkey downed along its border with Syria a Russian warplane, US president Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande indicated a toughening in the coalition’s stance towards Russia. “We have a global coalition of 65 countries and Russia is an outlier. Russia and Iran are a coalition of two, supporting Assad. Given Russia’s military capabilities and their influence on Assad, their cooperation can help the fight against IS,” Mr. Obama said. “But Russia must make a strategic shift” he said, Mr. Hollande by his side at the White House, after a meeting in which they decided to “broaden and intensify strikes” against IS targets.

Mr. Obama defended the Turkish strike that brought down the Russian plane. “Every country has a right to protect its territory and its airspace,” he said, suggesting that Russia was responsible for it. “Russia and Turkey must talk to each other. This points to an ongoing problem as Russian planes have been targeting moderate opposition forces in that area, who are supported, also by Turkey,” Mr. Obama said while Mr. Hollande added that he could “only regret” the incident. The France president, called for Russia and Turkey to take measures to avoid escalation of the conflict.

Asked whether the coalition could consider coordinated operation with Russia against IS, Mr. Obama said for that to happen, Russia must “refocus its attention on IS.” “Until that happens, it (coordinated operation) is very difficult,” he said.

Mr. Hollande, who is scheduled to travel to Moscow after his Washington visit, said he would make the same request to President Vladimir Putin of Russia. “When I go to Moscow, I will request President Putin that we must have a single goal, which is to fight the IS,” Mr. Hollande said.

“All that we are doing now to degrade the IS, cutting down their supply lines and financing, sharing intelligence with ground forces can be supplemented by Russia, if they are willing to change their strategy. Perhaps they will do so in the future,” Mr. Obama said.

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