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DC5m United States cinema in english 269 articles, created at 2016-12-09 18:38 articles set mostly positive rate 0.4  (10.99/11) | 1 S. Koreans Dance In The Street After President's Impeachment South Korean lawmakers voted by a wide margin Friday to impeach South Korean President Park Geun-hye. When the news broke, the thousands of people gathered outside the Parliament building cheered, |
 (6.99/11) | 2 The South Korean Parliamentary elections South Korea's Parliament passed a motion to impeach President Park Geun-hye over her involvement in a corruption scandal; the motion was adopted by 234 votes to 56. The Prime Minister will temporarily execute her powers, until a Constitutional Court decides on ratifying the Parliamentary decision... |
 (5.73/11) | 3 European Tour Hong Kong Open scores Dec 9 (Gracenote) - Scores from the European Tour Hong Kong Open at the par-70 course on Friday in Hong Kong. The cut was set at 140. -11 Rafael Cabrera-Bell... |
 (5.58/11) | 4 John Glenn, the 1st American to orbit Earth, has died at 95 John Glenn, whose 1962 flight as the first U. S. astronaut to orbit the Earth made him an all-American hero and propelled him to a long career in the U. S. Senate, died Thursday. The last survivor of the original Mercury 7 astronauts was 95. ... |
 (5.33/11) | 5 Death row inmate coughed, heaved during lethal injection execution ATMORE, Ala. -- An Alabama death row inmate coughed and heaved for about 13 minutes during his execution by lethal injection on Thursday night, AL.com reported. Ronald B. Smith, convicted in Alabama of a 1994 robbery and murder, was pronounced... |
| (5.13/11) | 6 Trump keeping executive producer job on "Celebrity Apprentice" -source WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump won't be firing himself from |
| (4.99/11) | 7 Dutch PM restates opposition to coalition with Wilders AMSTERDAM, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said neither he nor his party would be prepared to govern in coalition with anti-Islam politicia... |
 (4.22/11) | 8 No state doping program in Russia, zero tolerance on violations – Sports Ministry — RT Sport The Russian Sports Ministry says it will thoroughly examine the information presented in the latest McLaren report on alleged doping by Russian athletes, and is eager to cooperate with international anti-doping bodies. |
 (4.15/11) | 9 How unusual is Trump's Cabinet of generals? The president-elect has nominated two retired generals as defense secretary and homeland security secretary and appointed one to serve as national security adviser |
 (3.12/11) | 10 Zayn and Taylor Swift song for 'Fifty Shades' Taylor Swift and Zayn Malik are making sexy music together. |
 (3.11/11) | 11 British police say soccer child sex scandal may affect 98 clubs British police investigating allegations of widespread child sex abuse at soccer clubs dating back to the 1970s said on Friday they had identified 83 potential suspects and possible links to 98 clubs, including some from the Premier League. |
 (2.14/11) | 12 Liverpool vs West Ham: Team news, kick-off time, probable line-ups, odds and stats for Premier League clash Get the latest team news and stats ahead of the Premier League clash between Liverpool and West Ham at Anfield. |
 (2.08/11) | 13 From traitors to heroes: Sri Lanka pardons 19 who resisted British rule President revokes 200-year-old colonial order and declares 19 'patriotic war heroes' who fought for freedom |
 (2.06/11) | 14 Japan's Fukushima disaster costs double to almost $200bn — RT Business The costs related to the Fukushima nuclear accident have significantly grown to $188 billion (21.5 trillion yen), according to the Japanese government. The costs were initially projected at about 11 trillion yen. |
| (2.06/11) | 15 Director Verhoeven to head Berlin Film Festival jury BERLIN, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Dutch director Paul Verhoeven, best known for films such as |
 (2.06/11) | 16 Colombian president to collect Nobel without rebels in tow Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos brought no members of the leftist FARC rebel group to Oslo for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony because he didn't want to "create a problem" for the Norwegian government, he said Friday. |
 (2.06/11) | 17 Conway on Trump 'Apprentice' role: He'll do it in his spare time Kellyanne Conway on Friday defended President-elect Donald Trump's decision to remain an executive producer on NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" even as he takes office, arguing that "presidents have a right to do things in their spare time. " |
 (2.06/11) | 18 Ghana president, facing possible upset, says respects result Ghana's president says he will respect the election results as local media predict his challenger, opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo, has won on his third run for the office. |
| (2.06/11) | 19 Bloodied Hog Carcass Dumped Outside Oklahoma Islamic Center Authorities are investigating after the carcass of a wild hog was dumped in the parking lot of an Islamic center in Oklahoma. Lawton Police spokesman Sgt. Tim Jenkins says security cameras showed a person dropping the carcass at about 2 a.m. Wednesday at the Islamic Center of Lawton, about... |
 (2.06/11) | 20 Sharing biblical stories and 100 years of life lessons with Kirk Douglas We were in the middle of the Book of Esther, where the new queen is being prepared by the eunuchs of the court for a fateful meeting with the king. "I've got the movie," Kirk Douglas said, eyes sparkling as he imagined a scene playing out. |
 (2.06/11) | 21 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' gets its first trailer Tom Holland stars in director Jon Watts' film, which also features Michael Keaton and Robert Downey Jr. |
| (2.04/11) | 22 When Neo-Nazis Have Doubts, There's a Number to Call Felix Benneckenstein was a rising star on Germany's far-right scene, a young songwriter whose rousing guitar anthems made white nationalism sound romantic and rebellious. But when fellow neo-Nazis attacked a friend, Benneckenstein found the doubts he'd ignored for years coming to the... |
| (2.04/11) | 23 NFL to play 4 regular-season games in London next year The NFL will stage four regular-season games in London next year. |
 (2.04/11) | 24 Police: Western Michigan student dies in off-campus shooting Police say a 20-year-old Western Michigan University student has been fatally shot at an apartment near campus and they're seeking two men seen fleeing the area. |
 (1.07/11) | 25 Boomer & Carton: Opening Remarks On A Friday Morning Boomer and Craig had a lot to get to on the Football Friday edition of their wildly popular radio program. |
 (1.06/11) | 26 Watch: RSPCA rescues sheep trapped in traffic cone An RSPCA inspector called to reports of a trapped animal was amused to find a sheep with a traffic cone wedged on its head. |
 (1.06/11) | 27 Moderate voices missing from Cabinet picks The role of national security adviser is one of the most important in a president's cabinet. The Morning Joe panel discusses what makes Michael Flynn controversial as well as other cabinet picks. |
 (1.06/11) | 28 West Brom have become an improved attacking force under Tony Pulis this season... why Premier League leaders Chelsea cannot write them off Ask your average Premier League fan to list off their Tony Pulis stereotypes and they will fire them back at you with ease. Long ball. Not many goals. Lower mid-table. Set pieces. Baseball caps. |
 (1.04/11) | 29 Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho urges captain Wayne Rooney to rediscover scoring form Jose Mourinho admits Wayne Rooney needs to rediscover his scoring touch as Manchester United seek to end their chronic goal shortage in the Premier League. |
 (1.03/11) | 30 Zuma urges public servants to respect Parliament President Jacob Zuma has called on public servants to respect Parliament, after the SABC board’s decision not to co-operate with Parliament’s inquiry into it. |
| (1.02/11) | 31 Too early to judge Chelsea potential, says Conte Dec 9 (Reuters) - Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has played down talk of his team being favourites to win the Premier League title as premature and warned his... |
 (1.02/11) | 32 Fukushima radiation detected on US West Coast For the first time, seaborne radiation from Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster has been detected on the West Coast of the United States. |
 (1.02/11) | 33 Paris pollution: Medics on alert, outdoor sports not advised With more and more asthmatic children needing hospital treatment in Paris amid an exceptional bout of pollution, France's government is putting medics on alert and warning residents to limit outdoor activity over the weekend. |
 (1.02/11) | 34 Father of Sandy Hook victim speaks out against 'hoaxers' NEWTOWN, Conn. -- Just one week ahead of the fourth anniversary of the deadly shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, at Sandy Hook Elementary School, one father talked to CNN's Anderson Cooper on "AC360" about the hate he has received from various... |
 (1.02/11) | 35 The Latest: Ex-US House speaker Boehner adds Glenn tribute The Latest on the death of John Glenn (all times local): |
 (1.02/11) | 36 US Marine pilot dies after ejecting from his plane during a training exercise off the coast of Japan Captain Jake Frederick's body was found by the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense after he had ejected from his F/A-18 about 120 miles southeast of a Marine Corps airfield in Iwakuni in western Japan. |
 (1.02/11) | 37 Without these ads, there wouldn't be money in fake news It's never been easier to launch a wildly profitable online media empire. Whether you're an aspiring mommy blogger or political pundit, $10 gets you a URL and online storage. Fill out a short form and copy-paste some code to get ads on your website. |
 (1.02/11) | 38 'La La Land' strikes just the right notes 'La La Land' review Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone shine in Damien Chazelle musical |
| (1.02/11) | 39 Negligence trial in France casts shadow over IMF's Lagarde By Chine Labbé PARIS, Dec 9 (Reuters) - IMF chief Christine Lagarde goes on trial on Monday for her role in a 400 million euro ($425 million) state payout to... |
| (1.02/11) | 40 Diplomats call on Myanmar to let aid into Rakhine State YANGON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Several Western countries urged Myanmar on Friday to expand humanitarian aid access to its troubled Rakhine State, where at least 8... |
| (1.02/11) | 41 Celebrate closer EU union? Not with all that division The European Union's Commission chief has used the 25th anniversary of the summit that reinforced the goal of an ever-closer union to lambast some member states that refuse to apply common... |
 (1.02/11) | 42 Firefighter: Warehouse missing from fire-inspection records SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The illegally occupied Oakland warehouse where dozens of partygoers perished in a blaze does not appear in a database fire inspectors use to schedule inspections and may never hav... |
 (1.02/11) | 43 Nothing to celebrate on anti-corruption day Before Minister Jeff Radebe lectures us on the anti-corruption successes of the current administration, there are a few questions he should answer, writes Adriaan Basson. |
 (1.02/11) | 44 Girl To Be Sentenced As Juvenile If Convicted Of Killing De'Kayla Dansberry Associate Judge Stuart Paul Katz cited the girl's age at the time of the murder, 13, as well as her good grades, when denying the prosecution's motion for an extended juvenile jurisdiction, which would make the minor subject to an adult sentence if she failed to... |
 (1.02/11) | 45 Gloria Steinem warns of the dangers Trump poses to women's rights This month, a law is due to take effect in Texas that requires burial of fetal remains from abortions, which pro-choice advocates call unnecessary. |
 (1.02/11) | 46 Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers heading to DTE Energy Music Theatre this summer Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers will be playing DTE Energy Music Theatre this summer. |
| (1.02/11) | 47 Actor Judge Reinhold arrested at Dallas airport -police Dec 9 (Reuters) - Actor Judge Reinhold has been arrested at Dallas Love Field Airport after he refused to be screened at a security check point, police said.... |
 (1.02/11) | 48 Anthony Joshua wants to make Eric Molina look like a novice Anthony Joshua is preparing to defend his IBF heavyweight title against Eric Molina on Saturday, and during a press conference, things almost boiled over. |
 (1.02/11) | 49 Trump supporters threaten to boycott Star Wars "Star Wars: Rogue One" will soon be released in cinemas, but some fans of the franchise are threatening to boycott the movie. |
 (1.02/11) | 50 Walt Disney's home in California goes on sale for less than $1million The house on a ranch estate in Palm Springs, California was built for the legendary cartoon maker and his family in 1962, and remained in the family until last year. It is on the market with HK Lane for $899,000. |
 (1.02/11) | 51 Russia's stance on OPEC meeting seems fluid Russia's stance on a weekend production meeting between OPEC and non-member states remains fluid, with sources offering competing stances to Russian media. |
 (1.02/11) | 52 Cambodia's exiled opposition leader on trial again Cambodia's exiled opposition leader has been tried in absentia on charges of conspiring to incite chaos through false documents posted on his Facebook page, a crime punishable by up to 17 years in prison. ... |
 (1.00/11) | 53 Hidden and often ignored: Five facts about 'urban refugees' By Coco Liu HONG KONG, Dec 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - They are refugees, but do not live in the camps so often associated with those fleeing war or per... |
 (1.00/11) | 54 5 After Midnight back the expectant couple following Twitter spat with band's X Factor mentor Louis Walsh after his comments over pregnant star X Factor act 5 After Midnight have spoken out in support for Liam Payne and Cheryl, after their mentor Louis Walsh appeared to slam the expectant couple. |
| (1.00/11) | 55 Islamic State seizes more ground near Syria's Palmyra - monitoring group BEIRUT, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Islamic State seized more territory from Syrian government forces near the ancient city of Palmyra on Friday in fierce clashes that... |
| (0.03/11) | 56 US STOCKS-Wall St aims at record highs as Trump rally rolls on By Yashaswini Swamynathan Dec 9 (Reuters) - Major U. S. stock indexes took aim at record highs for the third straight day on Friday as a post-election rally s... |
 (0.03/11) | 57 Hillary Clinton – The Queen of Fake News – Lectures Americans About Fake News The woman who voted for a war that killed hundreds of thousands based on fake news now says fake news is putting The woman who voted for a war that killed hundreds of thousands based on fake news now says fake news is putting "lives at risk". |
 (0.03/11) | 58 UK trade gap narrows to £9.7bn after record monthly high for exports Britain's trade gap narrowed to a better-than-expected £9.7 billion in October after exports soared to a record monthly high. Figures from the Office for Nat... |
 (0.03/11) | 59 Chelsea can live up to favourites tag - Premier League predictions with odds and tips Chelsea are the new favourites, Man City are without Sergio Aguero and there's a cracker in store at Old Trafford as United host Spurs. Find out who we're backing in the Premier League this weekend. |
 (0.02/11) | 60 Manchester United sleep easy as they fly home from their Europa League win at Zorya As the squad arrived home at Manchester Airport, United players and staff were pictured carrying club-branded red travel pillows, supplied by Mlily - the club's official mattress and pillow partner. |
 (0.01/11) | 61 Well-known visual artist among Oakland fire victims OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A well-known visual projection artist who toured the globe was among the 36 people killed in a fire that engulfed a dance party inside an Oakland warehouse. ... |
 (0.01/11) | 62 NBA roundup: recap, scores, notes for every game played on December 8 NEW ORLEANS -- Dario Saric scored eight consecutive points in a decisive fourth-quarter surge and Ersan Ilyasova had a team-high 23 points as the Philadelphia 76ers snapped a 23-game road losing streak with a 99-88 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans Thursday night at... |
 (0.01/11) | 63 Bodies pile up in Philippines as Duterte's war on drugs continues WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC CONTENT Shocking pictures taken in morgues in the Philippines show the brutal realities of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs |
 (0.01/11) | 64 James Yap wants to beat old team Star Coming off his best game in a Rain or Shine jersey, James Yap believes that he's now ready to face his old team Star. "I'm going to prepare hard for that game. I came from |
 (0.01/11) | 65 Latest transfer news LIVE: Arsenal, Chelsea Manchester United and City updates as Liverpool prepare summer bid for Atalanta teen Franck Kessie It may beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, but even while the festivities are taking place Premier League clubs will be busy preparing to for the opening of the January transfer window. |
 (0.01/11) | 66 Chelsea press conference LIVE: Antonio Conte speaks to the media ahead of West Brom clash Antonio Conte's Chelsea sit three points clear at the top of the Premier League table, with the Italian set to preview this weekend's game against West Brom when he speaks to the media on Friday. |
 | 67 Fake 'happy hour playset' draws outrage online Photos of the fake playset (pictured) appeared on social media earlier this week, prompting furious comments from adults who thought it was a real toy that had no place under the Christmas tree. |
 | 68 Seven Year Switch's Cass snuggles up to three kids in tender Instagram snap Mum and bubs! Seven Year Switch star Cassie Thistleton shared a heartwarming snap of herself spending time with her children to Instagram on Friday. |
 | 69 Judge to decide whether states can force 'faithless electors' to vote Colorado Democrats Polly Baca and Robert Nemanich are trying to overturn a law requiring them to give their Electoral College votes to the winner of the popular vote in their state. |
 | 70 Andrea Pirlo takes in Chelsea training session and meets Cesc Fabregas... but Antonio Conte rules out coaching role for Italy legend Pirlo, 37, watched a session at Chelsea's Cobham training base on Friday to set tongues wagging about a potential role on Conte's coaching staff - but the Blues boss cut talk short. |
 | 71 Anthony Joshua ready to give the fans what they want as he weighs in ahead of title fight JEFF POWELL: Joshua and his opponent Molina showed proper respect for each other on the eve of their battle for the IBF belt. Joshua, at 17 st 11lbs, hit the scales almost a stone heavier than Molina. |
 | 72 Caught on camera: The incredible moment a man gives cops the runaround after he breaches security at San Francisco airport A major security breach at San Francisco International airport saw a man dash through traffic, leap over security fences and run onto the tarmac while the police gave chase. |
 | 73 Lessons of hotel fire echo after Oakland warehouse disaster ATLANTA (AP) — The cries of trapped hotel guests screaming in agony are still seared into Richard Hamil's memory, seven decades after the Winecoff Hotel fire... |
 | 74 Joel Edgerton cuts a suave figure in tailored ensemble as he poses with actor James Marsden at GQ's Men of the Year Party Joel Edgerton, 42, cut a suave figure in a tailored blue suit, as he attended GQ's Men of the Year Party in Los Angeles on Thursday. |
 | 75 Mystery of seized boat that washed ashore California beach carrying ONE TON of marijuana worth $1.2M but nobody aboard The 25-foot boat Bayliner was seized Monday near San Clemente, California. Federal agents and park rangers pulled the boat ashore — but found nobody on it or in its surrounding area. |
 | 76 Husband, 63, 'killed his 61-year-old wife before taking his own life in a deliberate car crash more than 200 miles away' Detectives were alerted to the deaths when Nigel Ordinans called Kent Police telling them his wife Linda's body was at their home on Mill Green, in Wolverhampton, West Mids. |
 | 77 Seven special-needs teens rescued from Texas 'house of horrors' had eighth sibling who died, 'were whipped with boards, starved and forced to clean a disabled child's privates with bleach' Newly released court documents shed light on the brutal treatment the seven surviving children, ages 13 to 16, had allegedly endured at the hands of Paula Sinclair and Allen Richardson. |
 | 78 Putin sends a squadron of Russia's new Su-35S fighter jets to the Finnish border in latest move indicating the Kremlin is preparing for war Capable of supersonic speeds, the jets - the best fighter planes in the Russian fleet - are able to carry guided 'air-to-air' class missiles, as well as anti-submarine missiles and guided aerial bombs. |
 | 79 'I never knew there were so many good things to do in here!' A never-before-seen prison letter and pictures of conjugal visits sent by Mark David Chapman revealed on the anniversary of John Lennon's murder John Lennon was shot four times in cold blood by Chapman outside his Manhattan apartment building on December 8,1980. Chapman writes never knew prison life could be so good. |
 | 80 Daredevils break Australian record for sequential formation skydiving The brave team of Australian skydivers hurled themselves out of two planes 17,500ft over Nagambie, Victoria, on Friday. |
| | 81 Markets Right Now: US indexes open higher, remain a records NEW YORK (AP) — The latest on developments in financial markets (All times local): 9:35 a.m. Stocks are opening moderately higher on Wall Street, keeping maj... |
 | 82 Bridges not walls: how the Guardian is expanding its Brexit coverage The challenge is to understand the motivations of voters on both sides of the referendum debate, writes the Guardian's new Brexit policy editor |
 | 83 Gov't proposal envisions phone calls on airline flights Airlines could let flyers make phone calls using WiFi under a proposal from federal regulators. A future where travellers are informed about the policy when they buy their tickets has been envisaged. |
 | 84 Exports surge to RECORD high driven by strong sales of goods outside the EU and a dip in imports The deficit in trade of goods was reined in by £4.1 billion in October - down from £13.8 billion the previous month. |
 | 85 Can you identify all 20 famous ex-footballers from a picture of what they look like now? Take our fun quiz Anyone can identify famous footballers from a photograph. But can you name footballers who retired years ago from a photograph of what they look like now? |
 | 86 New exhibition explores legacy of black fashion designers NEW YORK (AP) — As a girl, Tracy Reese thought she might be an architect. Then she caught the fashion bug. She knew, of course, that designers who are black... |
 | 87 Man who calls himself 'The Chicken Connoisseur' shoots to internet fame by reviewing London's fast food joints in search of the 'pengest munch' The Chicken Connoisseur has caused a storm on social media after posting videos of himself reviewing fried chicken restaurants around London, giving marks for both taste and price. |
 | 88 Seattle's minimum-wage experiment offers encouaraging results When Seattle raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour, the right predicted an economic disaster for the city. Conservatives, however, got it backwards. |
 | 89 Brussels clubs hit back against 'dance tax' Busting a move just got a whole lot harder in Brussels thanks to authorities enforcing a little-known "dance tax" on revelers in the city. |
 | 90 Two near-misses renew fears drones could cause major air accident One came within six metres of a Boeing 767 preparing to land at Manchester while the other passed close to an Airbus A320 above London |
 | 91 Newlywed NRL star George Burgess gushes about lavish wedding to pregnant Joanna King Feeling lucky: George Burgess took a moment out from honeymooning with wife Joanna King to gush over the big day and thank everyone who attended. |
 | 92 Jennifer Lawrence panned for 'disrespectful' Hawaii story The actress told a bawdy story about scratching her butt, and it didn't go over very well. |
 | 93 Alexis Sanchez all smiles during Arsenal training amid uncertainty over Chile star's future... as Shkodran Mustafi promises to give his all Alexis Sanchez was among the Arsenal stars taking part in training on Friday and the 27-year-old showed no signs that the uncertainty over his future is worrying him. |
 | 94 Sara Jacques who stole from Preston private school for holidays is jailed Sara Jacques, 46, of Fulwood, Preston, was stealing money from St Pius X preparatory school in Preston since 2011. She took the money from school trip funds and payroll. |
 | 95 Five bad reasons not to call 911 Dialing 911 isn't a call most people want to make, but it can mean the difference between life and death in an emergency. Quick treatment can help limit damage being done and increase the chance of a full recovery. Many times, people are hesitant to make... |
 | 96 'Secret Santa' pays off meal accounts at Pennsylvania school A secret Santa has paid off the outstanding meal accounts for students at a western Pennsylvania elementary school. |
 | 97 Hate crime victims: Funds flood in for interracial couple For Pat and Joe Jude, the pain of losing a child to suicide intensified when they came home to discover they were the victims of a hate crime. |
 | 98 Cristiano Ronaldo earned £191m in 2015 as Real Madrid star's reps publishing his income Cristiano Ronaldo's management company have defended their star over allegations of tax evasion by releasing his staggering £191million income for last year. |
 | 99 Freedom Charter scribe Beata Lipman dies Beata Lipman, who hand-wrote the original Freedom Charter, has died at the age of 88 in Johannesburg. |
 | 100 More trouble ahead for West, warns ex-PM Cameron in lucrative speech — RT UK Western democracies must undergo a "course correction" after Brexit and Trump or risk being swept up in a "movement of unhappiness," former Prime Minister David Cameron has warned. |
 | 101 This Morning viewers fuming over plastic surgeon who created his 'perfect wife' A plastic surgeon upset viewers with the way he spoke about his wife like she was a 'mannequin'. Anna and Phillip Craft (pictured) plan on her having more surgery to alter her appearance. |
 | 102 7 things you missed from the December Jackson City Council meeting By the end, 120 "yes" votes and zero "no" votes were cast for the 20 agenda items under "other business" and "new business" at Tuesday's Jackson City Council meeting. |
 | 103 Eastown real estate developer moves in on Bridge Street action "I wanted to dance in the shadow of Rockford Construction," says Ryan Ogle, whose company sells and manages real estate and operates a construction company. |
 | 104 FEMAIL finds out if you can you teach an old dog new tricks Lucy Waterlow, a writer from Hertfordshire, and her ten-year-old rescued border collie Patch met dog trainers and agility champions Alan and Selena Bray to hear their tips. |
 | 105 Kids go free on Dana Point whale-watching tours in December Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching based in Dana Point Harbor offers some relief from the holiday stress: free whale-watching tickets for children with a paying adult. |
 | 106 Pregnant woman loses baby after a nurse accidentally gives her an ABORTION pill but hospital claims they're not to blame The woman, who was treated at a hospital in Shanghai, China, went in for a regular check-up but was recommended to stay on for treatment. She was given the drug during her stay. |
 | 107 Women wrongly believe breast cancer drug causes side effects and put their lives at risk when they stop taking it A Cancer Research UK study has found that women taking dummy drugs are just as likely to suffer nausea and vomiting as those taking tamoxifen, and are just as likely to stop taking them. |
 | 108 City steps in after Westside Provisions railing collapse The City of Atlanta is investigating after a railing collapse critically injured two men. It happened Wednesday night in the popular Westside Provisions district. |
 | 109 Turkish pet stylist's grooming videos are an Instagram sensation Pet stylist Mehmet Gunes has built up a fan base of 180,000 Instagram followers, who are addicted to the videos he posts of his cute clients being pampered at his Istanbul salon. |
 | 110 Tragic young couple found dead in Chelmsford Car buff Tom Putt, 20, and Nikki Willis, 23, (pictured) were found unresponsive in his brand new £17,000 Ford Fiesta ST outside her home in Chelmsford, Essex, on Monday morning. |
 | 111 Package thief steals a parcel full of POOP from front porch of homeowner who left it there as a decoy because he was sick of crime spree CCTV footage picked up the brazen criminal walking towards the front door of the property in Riverside, California and unbeknown to him, the package was full of dog dirt collected after a party for a Great Dane. |
 | 112 Abducted US journalist faces fifth Christmas in Syrian captivity Press freedom group fights to raise awareness of the plight of war reporter Austin Tice who was detained by an unknown group in August 2012 |
 | 113 Ted Olson: The movie America needs right now At time of discord in U. S., 'Loving', the true story of an interracial couple's determination, with their lawyers, to overturn institutionalized racism, reminds us of the kind of people we aspire to be in America |
 | 114 Radio host Chrissie Swan calls Secret Santa 'rubbish' and a 'great landfill experiment' Radio and television personality Chrissie Swan, 43, told The Herald Sun that Kris Kringle is rubbish. |
 | 115 Mortifying shame of the respectable women driver POTTY by PROSECCO We Brits spent a staggering £182 million on the Italian sparkling white last year, when prosecco outsold champagne for the first time. And our thirst doesn't show any signs of abating. |
 | 116 Times Square, the Mona Lisa and Mount Everest: Tourists and locals reveal the attractions that are NOT worth seeing in person Travellers and locals have taken to Reddit to share tips on attractions that aren't worth visiting. They include Hollywood Boulevard, Times Square, Egypt's Sphinx and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. |
 | 117 Kent County recount: How vote totals could have changed Kent County's recount team processed half of the ballots cast in the Nov. 8 presidential election before the recount was halted by a federal judge Wednesday night. |
 | 118 Mickey-leaks: Disney World employee who was sacked after a fight with 'jerk' Donald Duck reveals what it's really like to work at the Magic Kingdom In a new Reddit thread user Ihaveanotheridentity - who used to work as the character Goofy at Disney World Orlando - encourages users to 'ask him anything' about his job. |
 | 119 Britain's lottery winners sell Scottish mansion because they've moved to grander house Colin and Christine Weir have sold five-bedroom Knock House in Ayrshire, in a £1.4m deal with a trust, after spending years renovating the property which overlooks the Firth of Clyde. |
 | 120 'Call me!' Kellyanne Conway winks and jokes that Bruno Mars and Justin Timberlake can get in touch with her if they're willing to play the inauguration 'Shhhh!' Trump's campaign manager mugged at the camera on Fox & Friends. 'They can call me, by the way. Call me!' |
 | 121 Defense Secretary Carter offers assurances to Afghan leaders Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Friday that the United States will stick with Afghanistan for years to come as a new U. S. president takes over what is already America's longest war. |
 | 122 Calls for action as 'honour' killings in Jordan show sharp increase As part of 16-day campaign against gender violence, activists demand stronger penalties for 'honour' crimes and an end to imprisonment of at-risk women |
 | 123 Snow in around Puget Sound likely to delay morning commute Drivers could see trouble on the roads after snow fell overnight and continues to fall in some areas of Western Washington, mostly in the North Sound. |
 | 124 After earning $6 million in grants in 2015, Jackson County looks into hiring grant writer After conversing on the issue, the commissioners decided to delay their decision until the Dec. 20 meeting, allowing the agenda item to go through the committee process. |
 | 125 Track endangered cheetahs on this tour of Namibia Catch up with the cheetah, the world's fastest land animal, on a wildlife tour to Namibia that explores regions where the endangered animals live. |
 | 126 Now she's breathing purrr-fectly! Pet cat Matilda gets a specially adapted inhaler to help with her asthma The 12-year-old puss (pictured), who lives with owner Kathryn Hoskins in Rudheath, Cheshire, has a special adapter for the inhaler and even has to collect her prescription from the nearby pharmacy. |
| | 127 Vienna Philharmonic to return Nazi loot to Jewish family A spokeswoman for the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra says the famed ensemble plans to return a valuable French Neo-Impressionist painting looted by the Nazis to relatives of its original Jewish... |
 | 128 Inventor unveils stunning 'Star Wars' AT-AT walker replica — RT Viral Inventor Colin Furze and his team have unveiled perhaps their greatest invention to date – a life-size AT-AT walker from the 'Star Wars' franchise. |
 | 129 Facing evacuation, West Bank settlers remain defiant AMONA, West Bank (AP) — Facing a court-ordered evacuation, residents of the Jewish settlement outpost of Amona in the West Bank are digging in for a fight to the finish. Vowing fierce but nonviolent resistance, they have built shelters, bathrooms and a... |
 | 130 Laura Whitmore flashes glimpse of her bra as she joins Olivia Grant at fashion party She's a regular at London's chicest and glitziest soirees. So it came as no surprise to see Laura at the Lulu Guinness & Jasmine Guinness celebrate Christmas with friends. |
 | 131 British tourist, 51, falls to his death from third floor hotel balcony during Costa del Sol holiday with 'new girlfriend' The 51-year-old, named locally as Mark Woodward, was staying with his girlfriend at the two-star Hostal El Cid in the popular tourist town of Fuengirola when he fell. |
 | 132 Missouri court strikes law denying bail to some immigrants JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court struck down a state law Thursday that denies bail to criminal defendants who cannot prove they are legally present in the U. S. ... |
 | 133 Killing at youth rehab center 1st known violent incident SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The youth treatment center where police say a teenager brutally killed a staff member while trying to escape is a working cattle ranch in southern Utah that hasn't previously had... |
 | 134 Correction: U of Illinois-Sanctuary Campus story CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — In a story Dec. 6 about the University of Illinois' decision not to designate its campuses a sanctuary for immigrants, The Associated Press reported that about 1,500 Illinois co ... |
 | 135 Oklahoma 'almost certain' for another damaging earthquake; risks to be elevated for next decade A recent study further underscores the relationship between earthquake rates and saltwater disposal volumes from oil and natural gas production. The research found that the seismic energy released in the past eight years of vastly increased wastewater disposal is equivalent to "more than 1,900 years of naturally... |
 | 136 Alicia Hannah flaunts pins as she attends film premiere with Sebastian Roché Alicia Hannah, 29, was the picture of elegance while posing alongside her Vampire Diaries star husband Sebastian Roché, 52, at a movie premiere in West Hollywood on Thursday. |
 | 137 How to set your gaming blog and make it popular Gaming is one of the fast-growing industries in the world and it is also one of the favorite pastimes among many people today. People enjoy play different games, and are also very good at playing them. This can be put to great use, by writing... |
 | 138 British tourist was left paralysed after Spanish bus driver crashed in torrential downpour - despite being told by passengers to slow down TWICE Holidaymaker Tina Campbell (pictured in hospital), 51, was left in intensive care with a damaged spinal cord and severe injuries to her back following a bus crash just outside Barcelona. |
 | 139 Hugh Grant dons a plaid waistcoat as he shoots Paddington 2 in London The actor, 56, was back on the job the following morning as he got to work on the set of Paddington 2 in north London on Friday. |
| | 140 Brexit the wrong fit for English fancy dress company By Emily Wither GAINSBOROUGH, England, Dec 9 (Reuters) - With Christmas music blaring, staff at English fancy dress company Smiffys are stuffing elf outfits... |
 | 141 Sting, Bruno Mars and The Weeknd to perform on Tuesday's 'Voice' finale Bruno Mars, Sting and The Weeknd have been booked to perform on Tuesday's season finale of "The Voice. " |
 | 142 Pregnant Cheryl's baby bump could get a lot bigger says midwife Emily Street Cheshire-based midwife Emily Street says the 5ft2in star's tiny frame means the space between her ribs and torso can't accommodate a 'neat' bump. It will protrude further as the baby grows. |
 | 143 Orange Coast College Teacher Calls Trump Victory 'Act of Terrorism' "We're really back to being at civil war. " |
 | 144 Child migrant from Calais Jungle is stabbed to death outside Tesco Express Khalid Safi, 18, pictured, was stabbed through the heart near the entrance to the University of Arts London in Acton last week - Scotland Yard are still hunting for his killer today. |
 | 145 Air Jordan 11 'Space Jam' release party planned at Michigan sneaker store Elite Mr. Alan's is offering Detroit sneakerheads the chance do their dance at the Space Jam prior to the release of the new Air Jordan 11s. |
 | 146 Father convinced daughter that her middle name was 'banana face' Richard Holmes, 26, from Great Barr, Birmingham, joked to seven-year-old Katie-Ann (pictured) that he had given her the unusual middle-name but never thought she believed him. |
 | 147 Tip To Find the Best Treadmills in 2017 Health issues are one of the major concerns around the world. Lazy lifestyle making us more machines dependent and we are not doing proper exercises and other physical activities to keep our self fit and fine. Fortunately there are various products which are quite useful in keeping us... |
 | 148 What was the best food festival in 2016? Vote in our poll now This poll isn't exhaustive -- if we didn't include your favorite food fest in the poll, be sure to tell us in the comments section. |
 | 149 Live coverage of day 2 of evidence unveiled for Jessica Heeringa murder case Muskegon County Prosecutor D. J. Hilson will continue to present evidence and witnesses today, Dec. 9 in the second day of a preliminary examination in the Jessica Heeringa case. |
 | 150 Former journalist David Savill's fiction debut, 'They are Trying to Break Your Heart', is searing If, as Mahatma Gandhi wrote in 1959, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated," then things are not going at all well in the parallel lands that are the setting for David Savill's searing debut... |
 | 151 Buy that buttery soft tee and give back to L. A. nonprofit groups There are more than a few fashion trends that don't age well — scrunchies, leg warmers, low-rise denim. |
 | 152 Wells Fargo's actions should persuade lawmakers to rein in forced arbitration When they open an account at Wells Fargo , consumers may miss the fine print stating that any disputes with the bank have to be resolved through arbitration. Not that Wells Fargo gives them a choice: If they want to open a savings account, they had... |
 | 153 Set a gorgeous holiday table: fresh looks for sassy and sophisticated fetes 5 New Orleans jewelry designers decked out their tables and offered decorating tips. |
| | 154 Ten detained in connection with China coal mine disaster BEIJING, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Ten people were detained in China on Friday in connection with a coal mine disaster that killed 32 people last week, state media r... |
 | 155 Arsenal sensation Alex Iwobi reveals Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez are his Gunners mentors Iwobi has burst into Arsene Wenger's first team plans having only been playing for the Under 19s a year ago, and he marked his rise on Tuesday by scoring his first ever Champions League goal. |
 | 156 Labour warned of impending 'electoral disaster' after Sleaford by-election slump — RT UK A Tory by-election win that saw Labour's share of the vote slashed has raised concern about the future of the party, with a senior Labour MP labeling the result an "electoral disaster." |
 | 157 Deluxe Business Cards printing options Business cards are very vital in your marketing strategy because they are the first point impression with your prospective future clients. Everyone needs business cards to their business and they vary as per business type and clients they are looking to serve. Selecting the right shape, design... |
 | 158 Premier League preview: 10 key questions before the weekend's games as Chelsea eye ninth straight win and Manchester United host Tottenham Premier League matches come thick and fast in December and some gripping narratives are set to unfold this weekend. Sportsmail asks 10 key questions before the games begin. |
 | 159 I'm A Celebrity 2016's Joel Dommett agrees to go on a date with TOWIE's Ferne McCann Appearing on Friday's episode of This Morning, the jungle hunk, 30, wasted no time making the proposition, labelling her a 'lovely girl', despite the fact they haven't met. |
 | 160 Rowan Atkinson seeks permission to revamp London home he shares with Louise Ford Planning permission was sought for changes to the listed cottage in London the star, 61, is thought to share with the actress Louise Ford, 33, since splitting from his wife Sunetra Sastry. |
 | 161 YouTube star PewDiePie threatens to quit platform amid algorithm row — RT Viral Fans of YouTube phenomenon PewDiePie are waiting with bated breath to see if the Swedish star will make good on his sensational threat to quit the video sharing site over perceived changes to the site's algorithm. |
 | 162 Snellville councilman pays tribute to fallen GA officers of 2016 A Snellville councilman is honoring law enforcement with a front yard sign right outside of his home. The blue lights on the sign light up every time a police officer dies while in the line of duty. |
 | 163 Leslie Parkin snared by vigilantes for luring 'schoolboy' to his house avoids jail Leslie Parkin sent naked pictures of himself online to a profile he thought belonged to a teenage boy. The 39-year-old told 'Jake' he would give him lager if he visited him in his Sunderland home. |
| | 164 Top 20 Global Concert Tours from Pollstar The Top 20 Global Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows Worldwide. The list is bas... |
 | 165 Trump's Top Education Pick May Spell End To State As Educator And Equalizer Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling If "The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next," as President Abraham Lincoln believed, some educational officials and teachers have a right to be alarmed over President-elect Donald Trump's top... |
| | 166 Bosnian Serb leader blames Muslims for "preparing for war" AMSTERDAM, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Ratko Mladic's lawyers told judges on Friday that Bosnia's |
| | 167 Blistering European mining rally hinges on China, Trump and dollar By Atul Prakash and Peter Hobson LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - European miners are in a race for the title of the best sector performer this year, a sharp turnar... |
| | 168 Tevez prepares for River clash, ponders Chinese offer BUENOS AIRES, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Carlos Tevez could be playing his last Argentine |
 | 169 Dami Im looks exhausted as she jets into Adelaide for Classic Carpenters tour Eurovision star Dami Im looked exhausted as she arrived at Adelaide airport on Friday. |
 | 170 Fremantle Council forced to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day The federal government has forced The City of Fremantle in Western Australia to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day rather than January 28. |
 | 171 5 tech gifts you should definitely avoid this holiday season SAN FRANCISCO -- Tech gifts may top holiday wish lists, but after a year of exploding phones, drone malfunctions, and stomach aches, you might want to think twice before buying the latest gadget for your friends and family. Before stuffing your shopping cart... |
 | 172 Only two OPEC members posted production declines Venezuela and Saudi Arabia were the only two OPEC members showing production declines, highlighting challenges ahead for a production deal, Platts reported. |
 | 173 Guy Sebestian says X Factor judges came across as 'whiny and stupid' It was no secret there was tension between this season's X Factor Australia judges. And Guy Sebastian says he, Iggy Azalea, Mel B and Adam Lambert 'carried on like pork chops' during filming. |
 | 174 Hamas cell planning to attack army base uncovered in Jerusalem Announcement comes day after another Hamas cell planning to attack another army base was uncovered in the West Bank. |
 | 175 Nicola Benedetti plays St Paul's Cathedral Violinist Nicola Benedetti has a religious experience performing one of classical music's most famous pieces at St Paul's Cathedral in London. |
 | 176 Prayer 'War Room' Key for Northern Iraq A worldwide prayer war room is what's needed to win the battle in northern Iraq. A worldwide prayer war room is what's needed to win the battle in northern Iraq. |
 | 177 How to visit the spectacular locations featured in BBC's Planet Earth II From Botswana to Nevada, if you've been tempted to visit some of the 40 majestic locations unveiled on screen, MailOnline Travel reveals how you can follow in the footsteps of the film crews. |
 | 178 Ohio 'heartbeat' abortion bill could be test case for overturning Roe v Wade Just-passed bill stops short of banning abortion from the time a fetus's heartbeat is detectable and may test the limits of constitutional protections of abortion |
 | 179 Ed Balls is joined by wife Yvette Cooper as he presents at Evening Standard Film Awards Ed and his wife Yvette Cooper enjoyed the party at Claridges Hotel, where the former MP presented the Peter Sellers Award for Comedy to Bridget Jones writer Helen Fielding. |
 | 180 'It's a Wonderful Life' to be shown for free at North Wilkesboro theater NORTH WILKESBORO, N. C. -- Piedmont Federal Savings Bank and Liberty Theatre are making it possible to see the Christmas classic "It's a Wonderful Life" in the theater. The classic movie will be shown for free at 4 p.m., 7 p... |
 | 181 Saara Aalto invites ex-boyfriend of nine years to The X Factor final Despite the drama, X Factor underdog Saara Aalto has remained on great terms with her ex, Finnish singer Teemu Roivainen, inviting him to The X Factor final this weekend. |
 | 182 John Madden on Jessica Chastain Political Thriller 'Miss Sloane' British director John Madden's political thriller "Miss Sloane" went on release in U. S. cinemas in November 25 via EuropaCorp after world premiering at the AFI fest. Starring Jessica Chastain as a … |
 | 183 Hlaudi's R500k demand, Guptas, 'Pretoria' take centre stage in SABC inquiry Former SABC acting CEO Phil Molefe has given an explosive testimony at Parliament's SABC inquiry, saying Hlaudi Motsoeneng threatened to "go to Pretoria" after he refused to give him a R500 000 increase. |
 | 184 GCHQ's Tim Masling hanged himself after being suspended from top secret role Tim Masling, 57, of Cheltenham, died on July 1 this year after he was arrested for 'unproven allegations', his family said. |
 | 185 Strictly's Craig Revel Horwood forced to apologise for saying he 'liked' TV rape scenes Calls were made for the Strictly Come Dancing judge to be sacked by the BBC after he came out with the controversial comments on More4's comedy panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats. |
 | 186 Turkey reinforces military campaign in Syria; dispatches 300 commandos In the western Turkish province of Denizli where 300 commandos from a base were first taken in buses to a military airport and then to the border region in military planes to join the Turkish-led operation. ... |
 | 187 UNC School of the Arts receives $10 million gift to start Institute for Performance Innovation WINSTON-SALEM, N. C. -- UNC School of the Arts has received an anonymous gift of $10 million that will be used to establish the Institute for Performance Innovation, according to the Winston-Salem Journal. This is the largest gift the school... |
 | 188 Pak TV Channel Aired Fake Audio Clip Of Crashed Flight Pakistan's electronic media watchdog today issued a notice to a TV channel for airing an unauthentic audio clip of crashed PIA PK-661 flight and asked it to explain by December 15 why action should... |
 | 189 Santa Claus is swapped for drag queen show in Melbourne's Chapel Street Melbourne's Chapel Street is swapping Santa Claus for drag queen Art Simone (pictured) lip syncing to Christmas pop music. It has infuriated traditionalists and Christians who claim it is 'smut' and perversion'. |
 | 190 Scuba diving Santa attract crowds in Kuala Lumpur A diver wearing a Santa Claus outfit swims inside a fish-tank in Kuala Lumpur, as part of Christmas festivities to attract visitors to a water park. Video provided by AFP... |
 | 191 CCTV sees man 'steal truck after stabbing another driver, stealing car and crashing it' Security camera footage shows the man, who is covered in blood, sidling up to a blue Toyota LandCruiser and hopping into the driver's seat in Brisbane. |
 | 192 Mosfilm CEO, film Director Karen Shakhnazarov on Russia's New Cinema MARRAKECH, Morocco — The Marrakech Film Festival has been organizing country tributes since its fourth edition in 2004, honouring such grand filmmaking traditions as France, the U. K, and Indi… |
 | 193 First Ladies Often Forge Food Trends, But Melania's Menu Is A Mystery Eleanor brought scrambled eggs and culinary austerity. Mamie favored boxes, cans and leftovers. Jackie embraced French food and Michelle redefined the national plate. And Melania? Who knows? |
 | 194 Monster who 'honor killed' his sister will face murder charges Qandeel Baloch was a social media star who was known as "Pakistan's Kim Kardashian" until she was shockingly killed by her brother. He claimed it was an "honor killing,̶… |
 | 195 Optimum Performance: B-alanine may enhance performance during exhaustive exercise What if I told you that B-alanine (BA), a precursor to the non-essential amino acid Carnosine (composed of the amino acids Alanine and Histidine), which is abundant in protein- rich foods like beef, chicken, pork, and certain fish - has... |
 | 196 I'm a former CIA officer and a Democrat. Here's what Obama still doesn't get about terrorism President Obama on Tuesday delivered his final defense of the nation's counter-terrorism strategy. He rightfully claimed progress on a number of fronts, including the death of Osama bin Laden , an end to waterboarding and the effective use of drones to kill terrorists. Just one... |
 | 197 New rule - no, old rule - when shots are fired, don't leave your wife behind We don't know yet if a jury hearing a murder case in Orleans Parish will decide that Cardell Hayes, the man who fatally shot to death former Saints defensive end Will Smith, is guilty of a crime. But surely we've... |
 | 198 Boxing prodigy Evnika Sadvakasov can throw 221 punches in 30 seconds Evnika Sadvakasov was filmed shadow-boxing at a furious pace at her home in Pavlodar, north-east Kazakhstan. She then moves on to punch her door with her bare fists, creating a large hole. |
 | 199 Ireland set to be Europe's fastest-growing economy in 2016 The economy performed strongly in the months after the Brexit vote, official figures have revealed. |
| | 200 Justin Bieber announces Hyde Park gig for BST festival Image copyright Getty Images Image caption |
 | 201 Can YOU spot the hiding monarch in the mind-boggling brainteaser? In the popular carol, Good King Wenceslas and his page head out into the snow to deliver winter fuel to a poor villager but the monarch finds himself lost. Can you spot him? |
 | 202 OSU Activists Complain Terrorist Was Wrongly Shot By Police Organizers of the protest said that Artan's particular actions were irrelevant Organizers of the protest said that Artan's particular actions were irrelevant. |
 | 203 Teacher forces students to SLAP each other late to class Shocking footage posted to Chinese social media showed students lining up to hit each other. The university involved has confirmed the incident and has now dismissed the educator. |
 | 204 Lebanese Director Eliane Raheb on Documentary 'Those Who Remain' Lebanese documentary director Eliane Raheb, whose well-regarded "Sleepless Nights" screened in Dubai's Muhr competition in 2012, returns to the fest this year with the world premiere of the p… |
 | 205 David Warner hits unbeaten 156 as Australia secure comfortable win over New Zealand The opener smashed his match-winning score, which contained 13 fours and four sixes, off 128 balls, lasting the entire innings before he was run out by Trent Boult with the final ball of the 50th over. |
 | 206 Netflix's Stranger Things season two sees characters solve more mysteries Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin were on set to film scenes for season two of Stranger Things in Atlanta on Thursday night. |
 | 207 F1's Damon Hill's wife shows him £165,935 Hermès handbag but divorce would be cheaper Formula One World Champion Damon Hill tweeted a picture of the Hermès Birkin bag. The Londoner added: 'My wife has just shown me this.... No bloody way.' |
 | 208 Trump's daughter Ivanka 'will quit businesses to take on White House role' President-elect Donald Trump is considering giving his daughter Ivanka the First Lady as his wife, Melania, stays on in New York to see their youngest son finish elementary school. |
 | 209 Katie Holmes ditches heavy fringe for a low-key top knot The 37-year-old actress proved her statement hairdo can be versatile when she stepped out in New York City on Thursday, scraping her brunette locks back into a top knot. |
 | 210 Toyota Prius and Mercedes van nearly wipe out motorist when they start road rage war Simon Day, 58, was driving from London on the M1, near south Leicester last month when a feud erupted between a Mercedes van (pictured) and a blue Toyota Prius. |
 | 211 Will Smith attacked my friend after crash NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Anger and anguish were evident in a New Orleans courtroom Thursday as a friend of the man on trial for killing retired Saints star Will |
 | 212 Jemma Lucy leaves little to the imagination in mini dress in Manchester The 28-year-old reality star opted to forgo a bra for the outing as her daring mini dress featured eye-popping cutouts that displayed her buxom bust and teased at her intimate inkings as she sauntered in Manchester. |
 | 213 Why Australian celebrities honeymoon in Byron Bay Romantic havens such as the Maldives, Tahiti and Fiji have long been popular honeymoon destinations for the rich and famous. |
 | 214 Arsenal top the charts for the Premier League side with the most academy graduates used... but where does every other side in the top flight rank? The constant demand for success in the Premier League, especially among the best sides, means the upper echelons of the top flight are often considered a bad place for young players to develop. |
| | 215 Irish GDP surged ahead in three months following Brexit DUBLIN, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Irish gross domestic product growth sped up in the three months to the end of September, expanding by 4 percent quarter-on-quarter... |
 | 216 The Project's Carrie Bickmore celebrates her 36th birthday The Project's Carrie Bickmore celebrated her 36th birthday with a Melbourne weekend away as family, friends and co-hosts kept radio silence about her celebrations online. |
 | 217 Video of the Day – Congressman Calls Tucker Carlson a Russian Agent on Prime Time Television Great job by Tucker Carlson getting Schiff to expose his true colors Great job by Tucker Carlson getting Schiff to expose his true colors. |
 | 218 Inside the sleazy Filipino internet den where 'Queen of Sextortion' arrested over British teen's suicide 'made fortune duping men into stripping for cybersex and then blackmailing them' Maria Cecilia Caparas-Regalachuelo (pictured), known as the Queen of Sextortion, is believed to have amassed a fortune from her home in the poor village of North Hills in the northern Philippines. |
 | 219 Coldplay's Chris Martin recalls Bruno Mars getting VERY hands-on as they performed with Beyoncé at Super Bowl halftime show Chris Martin, 39, revealed on Friday night's episode of The Project, that Bruno Mars touched his butt during the Super Bowl's half-time show, this year. |
 | 220 Mpumalanga rapist sentenced to 22 years A serial rapist who pleaded guilty to raping three young women and blamed liquor for his crimes, has been sentenced to 22 years in jail by the Nelspruit High Court. |
 | 221 UK Government's poverty relief fund is being spent on luxury hotels and gambling websites Funds have been spent building Chinese restaurant chains, five star hotels, online gambling websites, luxury shopping malls and Pakistan's version of Amazon called Daraz, pictured. |
 | 222 MGM National Harbor opens with star chefs Marcus Samuelsson, Jose Andres and Michael Voltaggio are on the resort's dining roster. |
 | 223 Masked raiders steal Neighbour's Robyn Morrison-Charlesworth's Christmas presents The burglars broke into Australian model Robyn Morrison-Charlesworth's home in Bradford, West Yorkshire, while she and her rugby manager husband Glenn Morrison were out. |
 | 224 Mother says autistic son 'feels worthless' after being banned from school Christmas dance Nicol Hankin said Tyler-Jaye (pictured), from Greater Manchester, has been rehearsing after lessons and in his lunch breaks since October and the school's decision has left him in floods of tears. |
 | 225 Lesbian amateur porn movie filmed at train station in Victoria The 12-minute lesbian porn video shows two women taking off their clothes and performing sex acts on the platform at Little River station, south west of Melbourne. |
 | 226 Eddie Pope's remarkable rookie year: from college student to MLS hero Twenty years ago, a tall 22-year-old was attending classes at UNC and dreaming of a career in pro soccer. By the end of the year, he'd scored the winning goal in the first ever MLS Cup final, and was an Olympic star to boot |
 | 227 Seattle Sounders or Toronto FC? Our writers predict the MLS Cup final Seattle and TFC have never reached a championship game before – so Saturday's final should be extra special. Our MLS writers discuss what's likely to go down |
 | 228 Sneak peek: War rages on in new 'Planet of the Apes' film Woody Harrelson makes his franchise debut as a merciless military man. |
 | 229 The 'Office Christmas Party' directors reveal how to throw a black-out, call-the-cops, alert-the-ER shindig In the raucous R-rated comedy "Office Christmas Party" – opening Friday with an ensemble cast including Jennifer Aniston , Jason Bateman , T. J. Miller , Courtney B. Vance, Olivia Munn and Kate McKinnon – the employees of a struggling branch of... |
 | 230 Sam Farmer's NFL picks for Week 14 The Times' NFL columnist, Sam Farmer, examines this week's matchups. Lines according to Pregame.com (O/U = over/under). Last week's record 9-6 (.600); season 125-65-2 (.658). Using point spreads with... |
 | 231 An action agenda for Cooper and the legislature Friday, Dec. 9, 2016 -- With the race for governor finally settled, Gov.-elect Roy Cooper and the legislature need to get to work now on these six must-do tasks to get North Carolina back on track. |
 | 232 Is it a bird or is it a fish? Rare moment diver captures a bizarre feature star swimming in the sea The beautiful creature, officially called a crinoid, was filmed by Dutch diver Els van den Eijnden off the coast of Bali. Crinoids are not uncommon in areas where coral grows but rarely swim. |
 | 233 Ryan scores twice; Canes beat Kings 3-1 in Los Angeles Derek Ryan scored twice, Cam Ward made 21 saves and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 in the NHL on Thursday night. |
 | 234 Cressida Bonas beams on press night of her new West End play The budding actress has thrown her energy into her new West End role, starring as Daisy in an immersive theatre version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel, The Great Gatsby. |
 | 235 UK weather on Christmas Day 2016 could be the hottest on record Bookmakers have reported a surge in bets on a record December 25 temperature after the recent mild weather, with the current record of 15.6C set in Edinburgh in 1896 and Devon in 1920. |
 | 236 Couple announce the birth of baby daughter in YouTube time-lapse video Proud father Devon Spittle, from British Columbia, Canada, shared the sweet video of his wife, which charts the course of her pregnancy before unveiling baby Poppy at the end. |
 | 237 Black lawyer: Free anyone charged with murdering whites An editor of a top-rated legal website is calling on blacks to scare whites by automatically acquitting African-Americans accused of murdering or raping whites An editor of a top-rated legal website is calling on blacks to scare whites by automatically acquitting African-Americans accused of murdering or... |
 | 238 Geordie Shore's Chloe Ferry in Newcastle as Marty McKenna shares kiss with woman Despite the plummeting temperatures and frosty love reception, the MTV star slipped into an oversized white tee sans coat as she enjoyed a night at TupTup Palace with her gal pals on Thursday night. |
 | 239 Bryson DeChambeau - the 'golf scientist' - unveils bizarre new putting technique on PGA Tour... where he stands FACING the hole Bryson DeChambeau, the self-styled golf scientist, has unveiled his latest innovation on the PGA Tour: putting 'side-saddle'. The rough translation? Standing face-on to the target. |
 | 240 Len Goodman reveals he almost didn't sign onto to Strictly Come Dancing Speaking to the Radio Times, the 72-year-old admitted he was afraid the professional dancers wouldn't be able to teach celebrities 'in a few days', let anyone it would be a success. |
 | 241 Daniel Johns returns to Facebook after seen stumbling on streets of Sydney He made headlines last week after troubling images showed him stumbling shirtless on the streets of Sydney. Now, Daniel Johns has returned to Facebook after a brief social media hiatus. |
| | 242 Music therapist, teacher, teens among warehouse fire victims OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- A therapist who used music to help kids cope with trauma. A woman who taught at a Montessori school. An energetic artist who could |
 | 243 Jennifer Metcalfe hits the town after filming emotional Hollyoaks funeral scenes The Hollyoaks actress, 34, hit the town at the Goldsmiths store launch at the Liverpool One shopping centre on Thursday night. |
 | 244 Footage shows girls writhe and spasm as 'prophet' performs exorcism in Kenya Disturbing footage captured in Ndikwe village in Murang'a County, central Kenya, shows highlights of an exorcist's six-hour ritual. |
 | 245 Romania set to go to polls as anti-graft party eyes kingmaker role Centre-left PSD set to fall short of majority, with Union Save Romania poised to step in as junior partner in new coalition |
 | 246 Essexville-Hampton Garber cheer squad to perform at Citrus Bowl It's the squad's first bowl appearance since 1995. |
 | 247 Hate speech versus free speech in the time of Trump and the media's challenge Since the presidential election of Donald Trump last month, white nationalist Richard Spencer has been getting a lot of media attention. This week, news crews turned out in force to cover a protested speech he gave at Texas A&M University. |
 | 248 Barbara Palvin goes underwear-free and mimics Sharon Stone for LOVE Advent clip The steamy clip, pays homage to the erotic nineties thriller, with the ultimate comparison coming as Barbara uncrosses her legs slowly to reveal she has gone underwear-free. |
 | 249 Publix recalls waffle and pancake mixes for possible salmonella, products sold in NC If you bought Publix Premium pancake and waffle mixes lately, you're going to want to check the box. Publix Super Markets is issuing a recall for some of those products after the supplier said a milk powder used in the mix may contain salmonella. The mixes... |
 | 250 Inquiry launched into who leaked secret memo about NOT leaking official information Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood circulated a secret memo warning senior government staff not to leak official information, but ironically his letter was itself leaked to the media. |
 | 251 Niyo: Caldwell's even-keel approach keeps Lions afloat In Caldwell's three seasons as head coach, his teams have compiled a 15-5 record in the second half. |
 | 252 Dubai to put surveillance cameras on taxis Dubai is taking a step towards passenger and driver safety by ordering the installation of surveillance cameras on all taxis in the country. |
 | 253 Delta Goodrem sports brunette locks for Vogue shoot and prepares for Olivia Newton-John biopic What's going on here? Delta Goodrem posed in what appeared to be the aftermath of a Kings Cross rooftop party, holding a hose as she sat on a fold up chair in a blow up pool |
 | 254 Lung cancer test may show signs of disease years before scan Researchers from the University of Dundee, Scotland, found antibodies are produced by the immune system in response to the early stages of lung cancer. |
 | 255 WATCH: White teenager undergoes Xhosa initiation It's all systems go for the homecoming umgidi ceremony of fluent Xhosa-speaking teenager Chad Baling, 18, after he successfully underwent the ancient Xhosa ulwaluko initiation rite to manhood. |
 | 256 The lakes of the world are disappearing – in pictures Climate change and human activity are threatening the existence of some of the world's largest lakes. These photographs document dramatic changes to the landscape in Bolivia, the Middle East, the former Soviet Union , China and west Africa |
 | 257 PH Navy to decommission WW2 ships The Philippine Navy will begin to decommission its World War 2 ships from the US still in active service, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Friday. |
| | 258 Pictures of splendours past: Aleppo before the war A millennium-old minaret towering above Aleppo's Umayyad mosque, an imposing citadel overlooking the old city centre, a medieval covered market and a 21st ce... |
 | 259 Politics: Political preparations for 'Chrismukkamona' Thanks to politics, the evacuation of Amona will go ahead with the blessing of right wing parties. |
 | 260 Buzz Aldrin Departs New Zealand After Weeklong Hospital Stay Buzz Aldrin, prepare for lift off. After spending more than a week at a New Zealand hospital, Aldrin's assistant tweeted a photo Friday morning showing the legendary NASA astronaut on an airplane with the caption, "Bye bye New Zealand! Hope to see you again!... |
 | 261 Demi Lovato heads to Roc Nation's festive party after earning first Grammy nomination Demi, 24, chose a draped jumpsuit for the fun night out, which nipped her in at the waist with its wide black belt detail. |
 | 262 Newly found 'HYPER starburst' galaxy churns out 4,500 suns each year Compared to our galaxy, which forms one sun-sized star each year, researchers from the University of Florida found there are 4,500 solar masses worth of stars being produced in this stellar production line. |
 | 263 Hate crimes fall back to pre-Brexit levels despite initial spike Reports of racially and religiously aggravated offences are now at 'similar levels' to before the vote on whether or not to leave the European Union, the Solicitor General has said. |
 | 264 6 smart ways to save money on the holidays Want to save money this holiday season? Follow these tips so buying presents doesn't empty your wallet. |
 | 265 Fransman suffers another blow in the high court Suspended ANC Western Cape head Marius Fransman's urgent application to access documents attached to the ANC’s integrity commission report on him has failed. |
 | 266 Yoko Ono makes Facebook plea to end gun crime on John Lennon's death anniversary Yoko Ono used the anniversary of the death of the former Beatle to make a statement on guns in America. She said more than 1,200,000 people had been shot dead since his death. |
 | 267 Lake Bell reveals she's pregnant with second child with husband Scott Campbell The actress, 37, showed off her visible baby bump as she arrived at the AG + Vanity Fair Opening of Saved on Thursday in Los Angeles. |
 | 268 Premier League boss reassures academy parents as sex abuse scandal grows Premier League boss Richard Scudamore has written to the parents of players in top-flight academies to reassure them that their children are being protected as football's historic sex a |
 | 269 Icflix Bows Moroccan Originals with Noureddine Lakhmari's 'Burnout' MARRAKECH, Morocco — Icflix, the Dubai-based VOD platform founded by chairman Fadi Mehio and CEO Carlos Tibi in 2012, is finalizing its first Moroccan production – Noureddine Lakhmari's "Burn… |
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DC5m United States cinema in english 269 articles, created at 2016-12-09 18:38 South Korean lawmakers voted by a wide margin Friday to impeach South Korean President Park Geun-hye.
When the news broke, the thousands of people gathered outside the Parliament building cheered, hugged, danced, blew air horns, and took selfies to celebrate the president's impeachment, the New York Times reports .
The president's approval rating stood at just five percent, a poll taken earlier in the day revealed. The motion to impeach Park passed 234 to 56, indicating that 60 members of Park's ruling conservative Saenuri Party voted against her.
Park has been stripped of her presidential powers, and now she awaits the ruling of the Constitutional Court. The court will decide whether to remove her from office or reinstate her.
The president made her fourth apology Friday, however, she did not admit any wrongdoing. "I am gravely accepting the voice of the people and the National Assembly, and I sincerely hope that the confusion will come to a satisfactory end," she said in a television broadcast.
The vote followed several weeks of scandalous revelations starting in October.
Park stands accused of colluding with close friend and confidante Choi Soon-sil and a few other suspected accomplices in a major influence-peddling scandal involving millions of dollars.
Choi was arrested and indicted for fraud and abuse of power in early November.
South Korean people have rallied in the capital on six separate occasion since Oct. 29. Around 12,000 protesters attended the first rally in late October, and an estimated 2.32 million protesters turned out for the last rally on Dec. 3.
Protesters attend a rally demanding the impeachment of South Korean President Park Geun-hye in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, December 9, 2016. The sign reads "Impeach Park Geun-hye". REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
When Park's impeachment was announced Friday, protesters waved banners and shouted, "Congratulations on the impeachment of Park Geun-hye! Now, let's lock her up."
"She should go to jail," others said.
Park's impeachment was heralded as a "victory for the people." She was taken down with "people power," one protester told reporters.
"It's a victory of the people's will and Korea's democracy," Seoul National University political science professor Kang Won-taek told the New York Times, "It is Korea's glorious revolution, achieved without blood and without any serious violence."
Park joins the ranks of her disgraced predecessors, as almost all of South Korea's leaders have fallen in shame.
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn will serve as the acting president in the meantime. If Park is removed from office by the Constitutional Court, South Korea will hold an election for a new president.
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S. Korea's president impeached in parliamentary vote
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Lawmakers in South Korea elected to impeach President Park Geun-hye Friday in an historic vote that caps the country's worst political scandal in a generation. Following...
South Korea's parliament yesterday introduced an impeachment motion on South Korean President Park Geun-hye, setting up a likely vote today on whether to suspend her powers ...
South Korea's parliament introduced a bill on Thursday to impeach President Park Geun-hye, setting the stage for a historic vote to oust the embattled leader engulfed in an ...
Seoul, Dec 6 (IANS) South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday said she will calmly accept impeachment if it is passed in the scheduled parliamentary vote three days ...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The Latest on impeachment of South Korean President Park Geun-hye (all times local): 4:10 p.m. South Korean lawmakers voted to impeach President...
SEOUL, South Korea The Latest on impeachment of South Korean President Park Geun-hye (all times local): 3 p.m. South Korean lawmakers began an impeachment vote Friday against President Park Geun-hye. Success is widely expected amid a corruption scandal that has left her isolated and loathed. As hundreds of protesters massed in front of...
South Korean corporate chiefs told a parliamentary panel on Tuesday that they were not seeking favors when they made contributions to two foundations at the heart of a scandal that appears poised to bring down President Park Geun-hye. Still, the head of...
South Korea's opposition-controlled parliament introduced an impeachment motion Thursday on President Park Geun-hye, setting up a likely vote Friday on whether to suspend her powers over a huge political scandal. A parliamentary official reported the motion to a plenary session, which means an impeachment vote must take place between 24 and 72 hours. Friday is the final day of...
SEOUL - South Korean President Park Geun-hye said Tuesday that she will calmly accept the impeachment if it is passed in the scheduled parliamentary vote three days later. Her comments were made during the one-hour meeting with the ruling Saenuri Partys chairman and floor leader that kicked off at about 2:30 pm local time. Saenuri Party whip Chung Jin-suk told reporters after...
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Park Geun-hye entered what could be her last day in power Friday, as lawmakers geared up for what's widely expected to be a successful impeachment vote amid a corruption scandal that has left her isolated and loathed. The opposition feels confident that they'll get an impeachment Friday, the last day of the current parliamentary...
South Korean president impeached
myfox8.com Raw: South Korean parliament impeaches president
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South Korean Parliament Votes for Leader's Impeachment
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Dec 9 (Gracenote) - Scores from the European Tour Hong Kong Open at the par-70 course on Friday in Hong Kong. The cut was set at 140. -11 Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain) 64 65 -8 Sam Brazel (Australia) 66 -6 Paul Peterson (U. S.) 66 68 Danny Willett (Britain) 68 66 Tommy Fleetwood (Britain) 66 68 Justin Walters (South Africa) 67 -5 Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand) 67 68 Hung Chien-Yao (Chinese Taipei) 69 66 Danny Chia (Malaysia) 69 66 Steve Lewton (Britain) 68 67 -4 Daniel Im (U. S.) 69 67 Benjamin Hebert (France) 66 70 Andrew Dodt (Australia) 69 67 Jason Scrivener (Australia) 67 69 David Lipsky (U. S.) 66 70 Carlos Pigem (Spain) 68 Peter Uihlein (U. S.) 66 70 -3 Nathan Kimsey (Britain) 67 70 Jorge Campillo (Spain) 66 71 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 69 68 Shiv Kapur (India) 68 69 Gregory Bourdy (France) 69 68 Siddikur Rahman (Bangladesh) 67 70 Paul Dunne (Ireland) 68 69 Scott Hend (Australia) 69 68 Nino Bertasio (Italy) 67 70 Jens Fahrbring (Sweden) 67 70 Damien Perrier (France) 69 68 -2 Gaganjeet Bhullar (India) 69 Juvic Pagunsan (Philippines) 67 71 Miguel Tabuena (Philippines) 69 Thanyakorn Khrongpha (Thailand) 71 67 Terry Pilkadaris (Australia) 69 Robert Rock (Britain) 70 68 Danthai Boonma (Thailand) 67 71 Jbe Kruger (South Africa) 66 72 Sebastien Gros (France) 65 73 -1 David Drysdale (Britain) 69 70 Jordan Smith (Britain) 66 73 Ignacio Elvira (Spain) 66 73 Natipong Srithong (Thailand) 69 70 Stephen Gallacher (Britain) 69 70 Brett Rumford (Australia) 71 68 Justin Rose (Britain) 70 69 Pablo Larrazabal (Spain) 69 70 Prom Meesawat (Thailand) 73 66 Marcus Armitage (Britain) 68 71 Paul Waring (Britain) 71 68 0 Wade Ormsby (Australia) 68 72 Arjun Atwal (India) 70 Marcus Fraser (Australia) 71 69 Lee Soomin (Korea) 72 68 David Howell (Britain) 70 Liang Wenchong (China) 70 Patrick Reed (U. S.) 70 Ian Poulter (Britain) 68 72 Jazz Janewattananond (Thailand) 69 71 Daniel Brooks (Britain) 75 65 Panuphol Pittayarat (Thailand) 69 71 Adilson Da Silva (Brazil) 69 71 Pavit Tangkamolprasert (Thailand) 69 71 Edoardo Molinari (Italy) 72 68 Joel Stalter (France) 70 Chris Paisley (Britain) 69 71 Chinnarat Phadungsil (Thailand) 71 69 Thitiphun Chuayprakong (Thailand) 73 67 Alexander Bjoerk (Sweden) 69 71 Pep Angles (Spain) 69 71 1 DNQ Haydn Porteous (South Africa) 72 69 Thomas Detry (Belgium) 73 68 Rahil Gangjee (India) 71 70 Magnus Carlsson (Sweden) 70 71 Lu Wei-Chih (Chinese Taipei) 68 73 Scott Henry (Britain) 73 68 Angelo Que (Philippines) 73 68 Wang Jeunghun (Korea) 72 69 Bernd Ritthammer (Germany) 71 70 2 DNQ Richard Lee (Canada) 72 70 Shaun Norris (South Africa) 72 70 Matthieu Pavon (France) 74 68 Dou Zecheng (China) 70 72 Duncan Stewart (Britain) 69 73 Nicholas Fung (Malaysia) 72 70 Pariya Junhasavasdikul (Thailand) 74 68 Mardan Mamat (Singapore) 69 73 Lasse Jensen (Denmark) 72 70 Tony Lascuna (Philippines) 69 73 3 DNQ Romain Wattel (France) 74 69 Dylan Frittelli (South Africa) 74 69 Lin Wen-Tang (Chinese Taipei) 70 73 Julien Quesne (France) 72 71 Scott Barr (Australia) 72 71 Jyoti Randhawa (India) 71 72 Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand) 75 68 Chiragh Kumar (India) 73 70 4 DNQ Graeme Storm (Britain) 69 75 Gregory Havret (France) 74 70 Chapchai Nirat (Thailand) 71 73 Lee Chieh-Po (Chinese Taipei) 70 74 Jason Knutzon (U. S.) 76 68 Zhang Lianwei (China) 74 70 Steven Tiley (Britain) 74 70 Kalem Richardson (Australia) 72 Masahiro Kawamura (Japan) 72 Adam Groom (Australia) 72 5 DNQ Keith Horne (South Africa) 74 71 S. P. Chawrasia (India) 71 74 6 DNQ Renato Paratore (Italy) 77 69 Unho Park (Australia) 76 70 Javier Colomo (Spain) 72 74 Mithun Perera (Sri Lanka) 75 71 7 DNQ Sam Walker (Britain) 75 72 Rich Beem (U. S.) 76 71 Lionel Weber (France) 71 76 Himmat Rai (India) 72 75 8 DNQ Chris Hanson (Britain) 75 73 James Stewart (Hong Kong, China) 72 76 9 DNQ Simon Dyson (Britain) 75 74 Humphrey Wong (Hong Kong, China) 76 73 Yannick Artigolle (Hong Kong, China) 74 75 10 DNQ Brett Munson (U. S.) 71 79 Chawalit Plaphol (Thailand) 75 11 DNQ Chan Shih-Chang (Chinese Taipei) 72 79 Terrence Ng (Hong Kong, China) 74 77 17 DNQ Yue Yin Ho (Hong Kong, China) 74 83 6 WDW Rashid Khan (India) 76
Hong Kong Leader C.Y. Leung Won't Seek Re-Election
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Hong Kong leader won't seek new term
article.wn.com Hong Kong's Beijing-backed chief executive says he won't seek second term
article.wn.com Hong Kong leader Leung says he won't run for another term
article.wn.com Hong Kong's leader says he won't run for another term
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John Glenn, whose 1962 flight as the first U. S. astronaut to orbit the Earth made him an all-American hero and propelled him to a long career in the U. S. Senate, died Thursday. The last survivor of the original Mercury 7 astronauts was 95. ...
'Godspeed, John Glenn': Public hails hero of space, politics
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rssfeeds.usatoday.com John Glenn, the 1st American to orbit Earth, dies at age 95
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msnbc.com 'Godspeed, John Glenn': Obama leads tributes to US astronaut
article.wn.com John Glenn, 1st American to orbit Earth, dies at 95
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ATMORE, Ala. — An Alabama death row inmate coughed and heaved for about 13 minutes during his execution by lethal injection on Thursday night, AL.com reported.
Ronald B. Smith, convicted in Alabama of a 1994 robbery and murder, was pronounced dead at 11:05 p.m. CT, 34 minutes after the execution began at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, according to AL.com, whose reporter Kent Faulk was present.
During a 13-minute span toward the start of the process, Smith "appeared to be struggling for breath and heaved and coughed and clenched his left fist," and his left eye appeared to be slightly open at times, AL.com reported.
These things appeared to have happened after the first of three drugs was administered, according to the report.
Two consciousness checks — which in part included an officer pinching Smith — were performed before the next two drugs were given; he heaved, coughed and gasped after the first test, and his right arm and hand moved after the second test, according to AL.com.
Eventually, two other drugs were given to stop his breathing and his heart, according to AL.com.
After the execution, a reporter asked Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn about Smith's apparent struggle for breath during the process.
"There will be an autopsy that will be done on Mr. Smith, and if there were any irregularities or anything, then that would be shown or borne out in the autopsy," Dunn said.
Supreme Court delayed execution twice Thursday
Smith's execution came only after the US Supreme Court twice delayed the execution, but then allowed it to proceed, amid a flurry of last-minute motions and orders.
Smith was convicted in Alabama in the 1994 death of Casey Wilson, a convenience store clerk.
Lawyers for Smith argued that he shouldn't be executed, in part because the jury rendered a verdict of life without parole. The death sentence came from the trial court, which overrode the jury's verdict.
Smith argued that he should be given life without parole, in part because Alabama's sentencing scheme is similar to that of Florida's, which the Supreme Court struck down in an opinion called Hurst v. Florida.
Lawyers for Alabama stressed that Hurst v. Florida has no retroactive application to Smith.
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WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump won't be firing himself from "Celebrity Apprentice. " The Republican businessman plans to remain an executive producer on the show that made him a television star, a source confirmed to Reuters. Trump, who famously barked the catchphrase "You're fired! " as he dismissed competitors on the "Apprentice" and "Celebrity Apprentice" programs, stepped down from the program last year when he entered the 2016 Republican presidential race. "Celebrity Apprentice" returns to the air with actor Arnold Schwarzenegger as host on Jan. 2, 18 days before Trump is sworn in as president. Variety, which first reported Trump's decision to remain as executive producer, said his name will air in the credits before that of Schwarzenegger, star of the "Terminator" movies and a two-term governor of California. The show is broadcast by NBC, a unit of Comcast Corp. Variety said he was likely to be due a payment in the low five-figures per episode. Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway did not confirm that Trump would retain the executive producer credit and said she did not know whether he would accept potential payments for the program. "Presidents have a right to do things in their spare time or their leisure time," she told CNN. "Nobody objects to that. "I can tell you that work is his work and work is his hobby. " Debuting in 2004, "The Apprentice" and its spinoff, "Celebrity Apprentice," featured teams trying to win Trump's favor in various money-making competitions. They were ratings hits - drawing nearly 21 million viewers at their peak - and boosted Trump's popularity after he suffered a financial downturn in the 1990s. Trump has been speaking to lawyers and protocol experts about what he can and cannot do with his global business interests once he takes office on Jan. 20, Conway said on CNN. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Emily Stephenson; Editing by Bill Trott)
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WATCH: Donald Trump to Keep Role on 'Celebrity Apprentice'
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AMSTERDAM, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said neither he nor his party would be prepared to govern in coalition with anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders unless he retracted the comments about Moroccans for which he was convicted of incitement on Friday. "It is impossible to contemplate working in a cabinet with this party until the comments are taken back," Rutte told reporters, reaffirming a commitment he had made in 2014. Wilders led a crowd in a chant then, calling for "fewer! fewer! " Moroccans. That incident led to his trial and on Friday his conviction for insulting Moroccans and inciting discrimination against them. Wilders's far-right Freedom Party leads in polls ahead of Rutte's second-placed right-liberal VVD party. Excluding the party from coalition talks after March's elections might leave no alternative to an unwieldy multi-party government. (Reporting By Thomas Escritt, editing by Larry King)
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The Sports Ministry denied McLaren's allegations that Russian athletes concealed positive doping tests and that there was a state-sponsored doping system operating in Russia, a statement published on the ministry's website said.
"Russia's Sports Ministry says with all responsibility that there is no state-run program promoting doping in sport," the ministry said in the statement, adding that it pledges to "fight doping with a zero-tolerance policy."
Measures have already been introduced to combat doping in compliance with the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport and Council of Europe's Anti-Doping Convention, the statement adds.
The latest part of the McLaren report is "outdated" as after the first section came out, Russian legislation was changed to grant independence to the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), said the head of Russia's Independent Public Anti-Doping Commission, Vitaly Smirnov.
DETAILS TO FOLLOW
Mclaren report, Russian doping, Premier League news conferences, Anthony Joshua
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Russia's Doping Program Laid Bare by Extensive Evidence in Report
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President-elect Donald Trump has been busy staffing his Cabinet and White House, and it's been duly noted that many of the top positions have been filled by generals.
Mr. Trump has nominated Gen. James Mattis (ret.) as defense secretary and retired Marine Gen. John Kelly (ret.) as homeland security secretary. He's also picked Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (ret.)to serve as his national security adviser. CBS News' Major Garrett has reported that Mr. Trump is reluctant to have any more than three general occupying high cabinet and staff positions in his administration, so Gen. David Petraeus (ret.), who had been a top contender for secretary of state, may be the odd man out.
Donald Trump filled four administrative positions, including Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agenc...
A look at recent history shows that Mr. Trump's reliance on generals is not entirely out of the ordinary. And for those who are mystified by the president-elect's predilection for military brass, the National Review's David French (who was very briefly floated as a 2016 presidential candidate himself) points out that there is at least one very good reason: "[I]n an era when trust for government and other civic institutions is plunging, the military has retained strong public support," he wrote Thursday.
During President Obama's two terms, several retired generals held key roles in his administration. Retired four-star Marine Gen. Jim Jones, who served as Supreme Allied Commander of Europe under President George W. Bush, served as Mr. Obama's first national security adviser. Mr. Obama tapped Petraeus to lead the spy agency. And he nominated retired four-star Army Gen. Eric Shinseki for secretary of veterans affairs. Retired four-star Marine Gen. John Allen became Mr. Obama's U. S. envoy to the Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
During a rally in Cincinatti Thursday, President-Elect Donald Trump announced his pick for defense secretary, retired Marine Gen. James Mattis. C...
George W. Bush, too, had a general on his cabinet -- in the top position. Retired four-star Gen. Colin Powell served his secretary of state. Under President George H. W. Bush, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft served as national security adviser and later as George W. Bush's chairman of the president's Intelligence Advisory Board. President Ronald Reagan chose retired four-star Army Gen. Alexander Haig to serve as his secretary of state.
There is one cabinet post in which being a general can be a real obstacle. In order to ensure civilian control of the military, the Defense Department has banned military officers from serving as secretary of defense for seven years after serving in active duty. The Trump administration is planning to seek a waiver to make an exception for Mattis, who served as commander of U. S. Central Command under Mr. Obama. The only other defense secretary who has needed such a waiver was Gen. George Marshall -- he took over the Pentagon in 1950, three years after the military officer ban was put in place.
Some Democrats on Capitol Hill are already voicing opposition to giving Mattis that waiver.
"While I deeply respect General Mattis's service, I will oppose a waiver. Civilian control of our military is a fundamental principle of American democracy, and I will not vote for an exception to this rule," said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, in a statement last week.
Mr. Trump has not yet announced his nominations for a few remaining cabinet roles, including secretary of state. And while he may feel he has maximized the number generals he can retain, there are still some available admirals. In fact, Mr. Trump met with four-star Adm. James Stavridis Thursday. The president-elect isn't the only one who eyed him for a potential spot on his team. Hillary Clinton also reportedly vetted him to be her running mate during her presidential campaign.
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Trump's cabinet picks: here are all of the appointments so far
theguardian.com Donald Trump's choice of generals for top posts 'extremely unusual'
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The pair have teamed up for "I Don't Wanna Live Forever," a single from the "Fifty Shades Darker" soundtrack.
Swift tweeted a snippet of the song late Thursday night.
Malik (who performs under his first name only) is a former member of the insanely popular British group One Direction. Interestingly enough, Swift used to date another member of the group, Harry Styles.
Singer/songwriter Jack Antonoff worked with Swift on her "1989" album and tweeted about co-writing "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" with her and singer/songwriter Same Dew.
Antonoff said the song "came together very quickly. "
"Recorded Taylor at my house," he tweeted. "Zayn sent parts from LA - we did it in a week basically. I've never had something come out that quick. "
Naturally, given that they both have such strong fan bases, the Internet was thrilled.
"Fifty Shades Darker" is the sequel to the popular 2015 film "Fifty Shades of Grey. "
The new film is set to be released in February 2017.
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Taylor Swift, Zayn Malik team up for surprise duet single
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Police forces across the country launched inquiries after former player Andy Woodward revealed he had been abused as a boy by a youth team coach, prompting other ex-professionals to come forward with more allegations.
The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said 639 referrals had been made to officers from a helpline set up by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children charity, involving about 350 potential victims.
"Allegations received by police forces across the country are being swiftly acted upon," said Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the NPCC lead for child protection.
"We are also liaising closely with the Football Association to ensure all relevant information they hold is shared to inform investigations moving forward. "
The harrowing tales of abuse suffered by the former players, some of whom have broken down in tears in television interviews, have shocked Britain. They raise questions about the scale of the problem, how much clubs and soccer authorities knew, and whether they tried to cover it up.
English soccer's governing body, the Football Association, has launched an internal review into what it admitted could be one of the sport's biggest crises, and promised to fully publicise its findings.
The NPCC said not all the 98 clubs whose names were mentioned to the police were under investigation. "The figure spans all tiers of football, from premier clubs through to amateur," it said in a statement. It added that 98 percent of the victims were male, aged between seven and 20 at the time.
The soccer abuse revelations are the latest in a series of paedophile scandals to have hit Britain in recent years.
Victims said the scale of wrongdoing was likely to be worse than in the case of TV star Jimmy Savile, a cigar-chomping BBC television host who abused hundreds of youngsters over six decades until his death in 2011.
English soccer child sex abuse probe grows to 83 suspects
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Police say 98 clubs affected — RT Sport
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Ahead of this weekend's Premier League action, Sportsmail will be providing you with all you need to know about every fixture, with team news, provisional squads, betting odds and Opta stats. Here is all the information you need for Liverpool's clash with West Ham at Anfield. West Ham have had a boost as Michail Antonio and Aaron Cresswell are fit enough to return to the squad for their game against Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday. The pair have been out due to groin strains and have been back in training this week but the game comes too soon for Cheikhou Kouyate (groin) who is still recovering. James Collins (muscular injury), Reece Oxford (ankle) and Diafra Sakho (hamstring) are all unavailable. Provisional squad: Randolph, Adrian, Collins, Ogbonna, Reid, Masuaku, Antonio, Cresswell, Noble, Obiang, Fernandes, Nordtveit, Payet, Lanzini, Feghouli, Ayew, Carroll, Zaza, Fletcher. Key match stats (supplied by Opta) - Liverpool's loss to West Ham at Anfield in August 2015 was their first home defeat to them in the Premier League (W14 D5). - West Ham did the league double over Liverpool last season for the first time since 1963/64. They've never won three consecutively in the league over Liverpool. - In fact, Liverpool didn't win any of their four games against West Ham last season, losing an FA Cup 4th round replay to them also (D1 L3). - West Ham scored as many goals in their last league visit to Anfield (3) as they had in their previous 13 league games there. - Daniel Sturridge has scored four times in six Premier League games against West Ham, although only one of those goals has been scored at Anfield. - There were two red cards given in this exact fixture last season, with Philippe Coutinho and Mark Noble dismissed. - West Ham United have lost a league-high 10 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season. - The Hammers have made six individual errors leading to opposition goals in the Premier League this season; more than any other team. - Former Liverpool striker Andy Carroll has scored 44 Premier League goals, with exactly half of these being netted with his head (22). Of players to have scored 40+ Premier League goals, only Duncan Ferguson, Tim Cahill, Kenwyne Jones and John Terry have scored a higher proportion with their head. - The previous three Premier League games to involve Liverpool and to be played on a Sunday this season have all produced seven goals (21 in total).
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Sri Lanka's president has revoked a nearly 200-year-old British colonial order and cleared the names of 19 citizens who were branded as traitors for rebelling against British rule.
Maithripala Sirisena rescinded the order and declared the 19 to be "patriotic war heroes who fought for the freedom of the motherland", a statement from the president's office said.
The order issued by the then governor, Robert Brownrigg, in January 1818 listed the names of the 19 people, including Monarawila Keppetipola Disawe, who was a high-ranking official of the country's last kingdom before it was defeated by the British.
Keppetipola Disawe and other leaders of the rebellion were found guilty of high treason and sentenced to death. He is known for the courage he showed at the moment of his execution.
"A recommendation was made to President Maithripala Sirisena to rescind the January 1818 gazette which declared 19 nationals, including Keppetipola Disawe, as traitors and make a fresh proclamation making them national heroes," said the justice minister, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe.
The announcement came after the minister met hardline nationalists from the majority Sinhalese community, who have pressed for the scrapping of colonial-era decrees against those who resisted British rule. Sirisena, Keppetipola and the other 18 people belong to the Sinhalese community.
Sri Lanka , then known as Ceylon, was ruled by Britain from 1815 to 1948, when it regained independence.
Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.
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The rising estimated cost means a heavier burden on Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) and other utilities, which are being urged to conduct drastic restructuring and reforms. It could also result in higher power bills for consumers.
In 2011, a nine magnitude earthquake struck Japan, triggering a deadly tsunami. Flooding then caused a cooling system failure at TEPCO's Fukushima plant and a meltdown in three reactors.
Officials say the decommissioning of the wrecked Fukushima reactors will take several decades. The cost is now estimated at $70 billion (8 trillion yen), quadruple an earlier projection of $17.5 billion (2 trillion yen).
TEPCO's portion of the bill has more than doubled to $138 billion (15.9 trillion yen) from $63 billion (7.2 trillion yen). The other leading utilities will need to pay $32 billion (3.7 trillion yen) while new electric companies will have to shoulder $2 billion (240 billion yen).
"For now, we don't expect the costs to increase further, but new developments and unforeseen factors mean there is a chance they could go higher," said Hiroshige Seko, Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry.
"Decommissioning technological innovation and a speedier cleanup could help reduce costs and it is important that we put effort into that," he added.
TEPCO has already received a government bailout to deal with the rising costs of the Fukushima disaster which has become the world's worst nuclear calamity since Chernobyl in 1986.
On Thursday, Tokyo reportedly agreed to add an extra 5 trillion yen ($44 billion) to its original 9 trillion yen ($79 billion) loan for the struggling power company.
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Japan doubles cost estimate for Fukushima cleanup
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BERLIN, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Dutch director Paul Verhoeven, best known for films such as "Basic Instinct" and "RoboCop", will head the jury of the Berlin International Film Festival in February. The 67th edition of the Berlinale will be held in the German capital from Feb. 9 to Feb. 19. "With Paul Verhoeven as jury president, we have a filmmaker who has worked in a variety of genres in Europe and Hollywood," Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick said on Friday. "His creative, multifaceted boldness and his willingness to experiment are reflected in the spectrum of his works. " Verhoeven, also a screenwriter, has worked on action and sci-fi films such as "Robocop", "Total Recall" and "Starship Troopers". He directed "Basic Instinct" starring Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas as well as 2006's "Black Book" about a World War II Dutch resistance fighter. His latest film "Elle" stars French actress Isabelle Huppert as a businesswoman trying to find the unknown assailant who attacked her at home. (Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Alexander Smith)
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Director Paul Verhoeven to Head 2017 Berlin Jury
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Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos brought no members of the leftist FARC rebel group to Oslo for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony because he didn't want to "create a problem" for the Norwegian government, he said Friday.
"They will be here in heart and spirit," Santos said of the rebel group, with whom he recently reached a peace agreement.
Santos will collect the Nobel Peace Prize on Saturday for his efforts to end a 52-year-old conflict that has left more than 200,000 dead. The prize went to him alone and not the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which is still designated as a terrorist group by many countries including the U. S.
"The FARC is not here is because I didn't want to create a problem with the Norwegian government," he said, adding a Spanish lawyer who served as a chief negotiator for the rebels would represent the rebels at the ceremony.
The entire FARC leadership — some 50 rebels in all — is unable to safely travel outside of Colombia because they face international arrest orders by the U. S. on drug-trafficking charges
Santos said legal procedures are underway in Colombia "in order for them to be completely free to go around the world. " He also said Colombia will ask other countries to remove the group from terror lists following the peace deal, which was formally ratified by lawmakers last week after an earlier version was rejected in a referendum.
"The EU has already taken some steps in that direction and I hope that the U. S. will take steps in that direction," Santos said.
He denied, however, that the Colombian government has asked the U. S. to release Simon Trinidad, a FARC leader serving prison time in the U. S.
In a letter to the White House on Thursday, U. S. Senators Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham said they had learned that the Santos government had approached the Obama administration about the issue. Releasing Trinidad, they warned, would jeopardize millions in U. S. funding for implementation of the peace accord.
"We have not asked for Simon Trinidad's liberation," Santos said. "That has not been an official request of the Colombian government to the American government. "
The new accord introduced 50 changes to the deal that was narrowly rejected by voters in a referendum in October. Santos said he hopes Colombia's Constitutional Court on Monday will approve a fast-track procedure to implement it.
"An impossible dream just a few years ago is now a reality," he said.
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Colombia president to collect Nobel without rebels in tow
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"He's a very transparent guy. Everyone can see what he's doing, and the fact is that he is conferring with all types of experts who tell him what he can do and not do as president of the United States," Conway, a top Trump adviser and his former campaign manager, said on CNN's "New Day. " "If this is one of the approved activities, then perhaps he will consider staying on. "
Trump's agreement with the show, first reported by Variety and confirmed by sources at NBC and the Trump campaign, means the president will have an interest in a show aired by a media company that also reports on his presidency -- a major conflict of interest for the network.
"Were we so concerned about the hours and hours and hours spent on the golf course of the current president? I mean presidents have a right to do things in their spare time, in their leisure time," Conway argued.
"I heard you object to Mr. Obama playing golf. Will Mr. Trump not be playing golf for the next four years? " host Alisyn Camerota countered.
"Well, maybe he will be," Conway answered. "It certainly seems like there is a lot of time to do based on recent precedent while you're president the united states. But the point is the same. Whether it's President Obama or president Donald Trump, the idea that these men are going to be all work and nothing else all the time is just unrealistic because it's never happened in our lifetimes. "
The former Trump campaign manager said that the president-elect's "work is his work and work his hobby," adding that his "preferred time is with his family, but it's followed very closely behind with his work. "
washingtontimes.com WATCH: Donald Trump to Keep Role on 'Celebrity Apprentice'
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Ghana's president says he will respect the election results as local media predict his challenger, opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo, has won on his third run for the office.
President John Dramani Mahama told supporters Friday to stay calm and wait for the official announcement from Ghana's electoral commission. He says his party will respect the final results "no matter the outcome. "
Ghana is the most stable democracy in West Africa and has long been known for its peaceful elections. But tensions have mounted as Ghanaians await the results of Wednesday's vote.
Eric Kofi Dzakpasu, the commission's head of communications, says the results are not being delayed on purpose. He says the delay is "a result of our commitment to only release accurate and valid results to the people of Ghana. "
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dailymail.co.uk
Authorities are investigating after the carcass of a wild hog was dumped in the parking lot of an Islamic center in Oklahoma.
Lawton Police spokesman Sgt. Tim Jenkins says security cameras showed a person dropping the carcass at about 2 a.m. Wednesday at the Islamic Center of Lawton, about 75 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. The Lawton Constitution reports ( http://bit.ly/2gi4YEF ) that a police sergeant spotted the bloody carcass Wednesday morning and contacted the city's animal control division, which removed the hog.
The Quran, the holy book of Islam , prohibits Muslims from eating pork, and pigs have been used to taunt or offend Muslims.
Hassan Ahmed, the director of the center, says he's not particularly concerned about finding the culprit and instead wants to educate the community about Islam.
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We were in the middle of the Book of Esther, where the new queen is being prepared by the eunuchs of the court for a fateful meeting with the king. "I've got the movie," Kirk Douglas said, eyes sparkling as he imagined a scene playing out.
"What's the movie?" I asked.
For the last 20 years I have studied Bible once a week with Douglas. In those years he lost his youngest son to a drug overdose, endured the heartbreak of seeing his grandson imprisoned for dealing drugs, watched his son Michael win a lifetime achievement award ("What does that make me? Winner of some posthumous prize?"), marked 50 years with his wife, Anne, and struggled with his legacy and mortality. On Friday he turned 100.
It is difficult to imagine what it means to live a century, world-famous for most of it. His relatively modest Beverly Hills house is filled with gifts from other world-famous people. I admired an ornate hand mirror on my first visit. "Oh, Anwar Sadat gave that to me," he said, offhandedly. Once you've partied with Frank Sinatra and John F. Kennedy, you aren't easily excited.
I asked him once if he remembered Jackie Robinson. "Do I remember him? Do I remember him?" he scoffed. "Rabbi, I was 4 years old when women got the vote." When on a hot day I said how much I appreciated air conditioning and guessed that as a kid he'd probably relied on a block of ice and a fan, he fixed me with a half-comic glare and said, "Who had a fan?"
Douglas was a notoriously pugnacious star who projected a burning, internal anger on the screen. I still see glimpses of that smoldering ire as he reads certain sections of the Bible or discusses political events when we meet; it was not entirely acting. A doctor who treated many Hollywood stars confided to me that Douglas was among his toughest patients. "He once punched a hole in my wall because he had a cold," he told me. "As if germs had some nerve inconveniencing Kirk Douglas." He could also be openhanded and brave on behalf of the underdog. His orneriness was part of what enabled him to insist that blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo get sole screen credit for "Spartacus" in 1960.
Those sharp edges have softened over time. "I don't know if studying made him nicer or he was nicer so he studied," his son Michael told me several years ago. "But you are seeing him at his kindest."
Several years ago he and Anne sold much of their precious art collection to fund a foundation that has built more than 400 school playgrounds all over California. They have attended, together, the opening of every single one. They have given away tens of millions, notably to schools and the Motion Picture Home for the Aged.
Douglas has survived a heart attack, a stroke and a helicopter crash. He reads the Bible for its stories of struggle, and feels an affinity for the more troubled characters. When my book on King David was optioned by Warner Bros., he lamented being too old to play him in the movie. David, he told me, was his kind of complicated character, noble, strong and sinful. Douglas often recounts something a rabbi told him when he first began to study Judaism: that he loved being Jewish because it was so dramatic.
Facing his mortality, Douglas told me about sitting with his mother at the end of her life some 75 years ago. She held his hand and told him not to be afraid, that everyone dies. He had an extremely contentious relationship with his father, but he adored his mother and she adored him. "When my boy walks," he remembers her telling her friends, "the earth trembles."
Now when he walks, he trembles. He complains, but mostly with amazement that he is 100.
Several years ago I asked why he was studying the Bible at this stage of his life. It is the best book of stories in the world, he replied, then added, "At this point it is all about God, people and charity, and I have my doubts about God, but none about charity and people."
Studying Judaism for years has softened him, but not dampened his drive to know more, and do more. It has turned him outward to the world. That same day as I was leaving he walked me to the door and said, "Come back soon. The sun is setting and there is still a lot to learn."
Many Oakland warehouse fire questions are still unanswered , how will Hollywood speak to Trump's America , meet Wilbur Ross, the man Trump has tapped him to lead the U. S. Department of Commerce , and the L. A. City Council hopes to end 'mansionization.'
Flowers placed near the site of the Oakland warehouse fire. Video by Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times
Protesting the Dakota Access pipeline (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Beyonce leads today's Grammy nominations with nine , California's new legislative session began in dramatic fashion , Ben Carson is Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development , and former L. A. County Sheriff Lee Baca was once a powerful and celebrated lawman but now he's at the center of a public corruption trial.
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor , the only soldier who went to jail in the scandal over the National Guard bonuses, why you'll be paying more for your Christmas tree this year, and a new development from ancient scientists: The Earth is moving slower than it used to .
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor , the only soldier who went to jail in the scandal over the National Guard bonuses, why you'll be paying more for your Christmas tree this year, and a new development from ancient scientists: The Earth is moving slower than it used to .
Kirk Douglas Turns 100
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Spider-Man has officially swung back into action. Late Thursday (Dec. 7), Sony Pictures unveiled the first trailer for the superhero franchise reboot "Spider-Man: Homecoming" on the ABC talk show " Jimmy Kimmel Live. " Check it out in the embedded video above.
Following the aborted "Amazing Spider-Man" series, which got only two installments, the new franchise stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. And while it doesn't make the mistake of presenting yet another origins story -- which turned many viewers off on the "Amazing Spider-Man" experiment right out of the gate -- it does go back to Peter Parker's beginnings, in a way.
This time, as in the comics -- and in last spring's " Captain America: Civil War " in which Holland made his brief big-screen debut as Spider-Man -- Peter is a high school kid. Consequently, the trailer suggests that director Jon Watts' film is built largely around the pains of growing up (particularly when one has been bitten by a radioactive spider).
It also features no small amount of humor, including an appearance by Robert Downey Jr.'s wisecracking "Iron Man" character, who continues the attempts he started in "Civil War" to transform Spidey into a big-boy superhero. He'll get his chance, too, with the arrival of the villainous Vulture (played by Michael Keaton, in something of an homage to his Oscar-nominated "Birdman" role).
" Spider Man: Homecoming " arrives in U. S. theaters July 7.
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upi.com
Felix Benneckenstein was a rising star on Germany's far-right scene, a young songwriter whose rousing guitar anthems made white nationalism sound romantic and rebellious.
But when fellow neo-Nazis attacked a friend, Benneckenstein found the doubts he'd ignored for years coming to the surface.
"It was a rude awakening," he recalled. "You have an idea of what's wrong with the world and believe you've discovered hidden truths... And to then realize that everything you've done to yourself and others in the past years was built on lies is a bitter moment. "
After almost a decade on the far-right fringes, the 30-year-old is now part of a small but effective network of former neo-Nazis helping people to leave the scene. Spread across Germany, they work closely with an organization called EXIT that provides quick, unbureaucratic advice to extremists who want out.
At a time when extreme nationalism is on the rise in Europe again, EXIT has helped hundreds of neo-Nazis start a new life, according to its founder Bernd Wagner, a former East German police detective. He says EXIT has an edge over government-run programs because those answering its hotline have dropped out of the far-right movement themselves.
These former neo-Nazis call themselves the 'Action Group' and try to meet in person at least once a year. The meetings aren't advertised, and journalists aren't invited because some members fear their identity could be revealed to friends and colleagues unaware of their past. Last month The Associated Press received unprecedented access to the group's two-day retreat at a former police training center tucked away in a wood in the eastern state of Saxony — notorious for its strong far-right presence.
About a dozen people — mostly young, mostly male — came to talk about their past and brainstorm ways to reach out to those still inside the neo-Nazi scene. Wagner says the Action Group gives ex-Nazis a way to become involved in political campaigns again where other organizations might reject them due to their past. The meetings also help them deal with their own demons.
"It does a lot for people that they can talk about the old days, not like old warriors who've won battles but about the mistakes they made in their lives," said Wagner. "They're still looking for direction in a highly complex and diverse reality. "
That includes people such as Falk Isernhagen.
Bespectacled and slight, he felt he was an outsider as a white kid in a mostly migrant neighborhood of Berlin. When older white students at his high school invited him along to football games, he was grateful.
Soon he was marching alongside them at far-right demonstrations. Then he offered to run their website.
Isernhagen left when the pressure from his comrades became too much. Shortly after making the call to EXIT, he was attacked by unknown assailants and ended up in hospital, under police protection.
Instead of just turning his back on the far right, he chose to help others find their way out, too. "I felt I'd done enough damage so I wanted to make up for it a bit," he said.
But it's not all penance for the former neo-Nazis who met in Schleife, a village near the Polish border, in early November. Sitting on a frigid porch outside the training center, Isernhagen grinned as he recalled the previous nights' larks.
"It's really interesting to work with people who have the same or similar experiences," he said. "Because you feel that they understand what you went through and felt. That welds people together. "
People who join the far right typically share a common history: an early interest in politics, a feeling that they were outsiders or underdogs, and anger at what they regarded as injustice around them.
Benneckenstein was 13 when he came into contact with white nationalism. At first it was more teenage rebellion than genuine sympathy that drew him to the extreme right.
"I found the Nazi scene abhorrent. My little brother has Down Syndrome and of course I knew what happened to disabled people under Hitler," he recalled.
But Benneckenstein enjoyed the music his new friends were listening to, and like many young Germans, he felt his generation was being unfairly penalized for their grandparents' mistakes. He fell for historical revisionism, to the extent of denying the Holocaust.
"I wanted to rid myself of a certain guilt one has because of Germany's history," he said.
Soon his friends were bombarding him with information. There was "fun, action and party," he said, but mainly it was about radicalizing young people.
First they radicalized him. Then he radicalized others. Going by the stage name 'Flex,' he composed nationalist songs that included lines such "Am I criminal because I want to change the world" and "I'm ready to rise up against everything that stands in our way. "
Some of those in his circle were arrested for planning to bomb a Jewish center in Munich. Benneckenstein insists he was never involved in organized violence, though it was seen as a legitimate response to attacks from left-wing demonstrators. "If you want to be part of it, as I did, you have to be able to use violence," he said.
A few months after his friends were attacked by other neo-Nazis, Benneckenstein — who resembles a young Matt Damon — found himself in jail. It was the last straw. He and his girlfriend called EXIT seeking help to leave the far-right movement. Since then Benneckenstein has become the go-to guy for remorseful neo-Nazis in Germany's southern state of Bavaria.
First contact requires trust on both sides, as well as a willingness to hear the other side out, he said. Some people are ready to quit the far right immediately. "We develop a scenario that allows people to leave the scene quietly. "
"Then there are the others who get in touch and want to talk through the whole ideology, which is also an important step. Because if they contact me they are contacting a traitor. "
But Benneckenstein also has an advantage. Unlike a police officer or social worker, he knows first-hand what neo-Nazis believe and where their weak spots are.
For many, the shift from mainstream politics to far-right ideology involved embracing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Unraveling those theories is a difficult but important part of the process of leaving the far-right scene, which Germany's domestic intelligence service says involved some 22,600 people last year.
Members of the Action Group, of whom there are now almost 40, say they recognize those theories in the current debate over Germany's immigration policy. The country has seen a surge in attacks against migrants over the past two years amid an unprecedented influx of refugees. Far-right groups have claimed that the government is intentionally trying to import foreigners to weaken the German population — or even abolish it.
To former neo-Nazis like Benneckenstein, such developments are worrying.
"I'm hardly concerned by the refugees, but I am concerned by the mood that's resulting from this," he said. "Everyone can see how the political picture in Germany is changing at the moment. "
The situation has given the Action Group's work greater importance. Two years ago it made headlines when it got the public to 'sponsor' a far-right march. The stunt caught the neo-Nazis off guard: for every meter (yard) they marched, ten euros (dollars) were donated to an anti-Nazi campaign.
The group followed up last year by soliciting donations for each racist post on Facebook — more posts, more donations to organizations that work to counter hate speech. Their stunts have since been copied by groups outside Germany, and EXIT now has a sister organization in the United States.
Some of the Action Group's members have come a long way since leaving the far right.
By his mid-20s, Stefan Rochow had risen from teenage activist to leader of the National Democratic Party's youth wing, responsible for recruiting new members and shaping the party's ideology. Outwardly he blamed foreigners and mainstream politicians for his country's woes, but inside Rochow was gripped by doubt. Corruption within the party and his own religious awakening made him question the ideas he'd spent more than a decade fighting for.
"I lived in two worlds," he recalls. "My whole personality was completely split. "
With the help of his girlfriend and a Catholic priest, Rochow eventually managed to leave the party, a process that took three years. The turmoil and difficulties he experienced moved him to turn the tables on his erstwhile comrades.
Rochow remembers the "huge hole" he felt in his life after finally leaving the far-right party in 2008. His new-found Christian faith helped fill the void.
These days he's busier than ever. Aside from running his own business in the northern city of Schwerin and helping convert neo-Nazis, Rochow works in a cafe Wednesday afternoons — helping refugees from Syria and Iraq adapt to life in Germany.
———
Follow Frank Jordans on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/wirereporter
I'm a recovering neo-Nazi
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When neo-Nazis have doubts, there's a number to call
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LONDON (AP) - The NFL will stage four regular-season games in London next year. The league says the teams and venues for the four games will be announced on Tuesday. The NFL started playing regular-season games in London in 2007, and has recently played three games per season in the British capital. The league has never before played four games in one season in London. Most of the games have been played at Wembley Stadium, but one was played at Twickenham this season. NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell says "we continue to be incredibly excited by the passion and love for the NFL shown by our millions of UK fans. " Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) - Police say a 20-year-old Western Michigan University student has been fatally shot at an apartment near campus and they're seeking two men seen fleeing the area.
Kalamazoo public safety officers and campus police responded about 10:30 p.m. Thursday to a call about the shooting and found the man dead of an apparent gunshot wound. Witnesses told police two men fled on foot and were believed to have driven away.
Police didn't immediately disclose details about the circumstances of the shooting.
The name of the man who died wasn't released early Friday, but the school says he was a student. University President John Dunn says in a statement the school community "is stunned by the realization that a promising life has been lost. " He says the school is working with police.
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Boomer and Craig had a lot to get to on the "Football Friday" edition of their wildly popular radio program.
They began, fittingly, with the Chiefs' 21-13 win over the Raiders on Thursday Night Football. The win moved Kansas City into first place in the AFC West.
Later, the topic shifted to two of our local teams. After Boomer made it clear he wasn't interested in talking about the manufactured feud between the Knicks' Carmelo Anthony and Phil Jackson, Craig took the Giants' Victor Cruz to task for his politically charged comments.
You know the drill, folks. It's a Friday, so start acting like it.
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12/9 CBS2 Friday Morning Weather Headlines
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Boomer & Carton: Jerry's Feelin' It On A Friday
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An RSPCA inspector called to reports of a trapped animal was amused to find a sheep with a traffic cone wedged on its head.
The stricken ewe was roaming around a field in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire, unable to dislodge the orange plastic object.
Inspector Rachel Smith had to use all her guile and cunning to prise it off.
Ms Smith said: "She could see over the top of the cone so I had to crouch down and sneak up on her.
"I managed to grab the cone and she backed away from me so she popped right out.
"Although no harm came to this unfortunate sheep, on a serious note people should make sure all hazards are removed from areas that farm animals have access to. "
The charity has since released a short video clip of the incident, which happened on December 4.
dailymail.co.uk 
independent.ie
The role of national security adviser is one of the most important in a president's cabinet. The Morning Joe panel discusses what makes Michael Flynn controversial as well as other cabinet picks.
Trump's cabinet picks: here are all of the appointments so far
theguardian.com
Ask your average Premier League fan to list off their Tony Pulis stereotypes and they will fire them back at you with ease. Long ball. Not many goals. Lower mid-table. Set pieces. Baseball caps. A decade in the top flight has left Pulis as little more than a caricature of himself in the eyes of most fans. Through Stoke, Crystal Palace and West Brom he has seemingly found a brand of football and stuck with it to safety. But this season, things at the Hawthorns have changed. After a summer in which he bemoaned the club's recruitment amid a takeover, Pulis has seemingly decided to take a radical approach to the campaign. It has paid off. Going into Sunday's game against league leaders Chelsea, West Brom are seventh in the Premier League. They are only a point behind Jose Mourinho's free spending Manchester United and could have overhauled them by the time kick-off rolls around at Old Trafford. Impressively, Pulis's team have even outscored a side containing attack-minded talent like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marcus Rashford and Wayne Rooney. It speaks for a wider trend. West Brom have gone from being the kings of the effective away draw under Pulis to significantly improving their goal tally per game. Last season they only struck 34 goals in their 38 games, a total of 0.89 goals per match. This season that figure has shot up. They have nearly doubled their goals per game - up to 1.43 per match in their 14 games. It now takes them just 63 minutes to score goal on average, compared to 101 last season. Combine that with their improved shots on target per game - 3.5 compared to 2.82 last season - and it is clear that there is an underlying trend to their improved performances. What explains it? In part it comes down to the fact that Pulis was eventually able to recruit on a level that he never has before - primarily due to the new found riches of the Premier League. Nacer Chadli may have been sold by Tottenham for a relatively cut-price £13million, but the arrival of a player of his stature shows the financial freedom Pulis now has. And Chadli has not even started any of the Baggies' last four Premier League games. There have been effective signings too. Matt Phillips, a £5.5m addition, has been performing at a level higher than anyone might have expected of him after previous spells in the Premier League. Against Watford, when West Brom won 3-1, he was exceptional, scoring his first league goal of the season and creating three chances for his team-mates. Of the other summer additions, only Allan Nyom has played football regularly this season. His arrival has allowed Jonny Evans to move away from left-back and into his preferred berth in the middle of the defence, which has simultaneously shored West Brom up and also given them more attacking threat down the flanks. What has also made a difference is other players in the squad stepping up. Salomon Rondon was an interesting signing when Pulis brought him in last summer. He does not fit the cliche of a proven Premier League player but did have all the necessary tools to suit Pulis's style. He's strong, fast and technically gifted, ideal for Pulis's system. It took him time to settle, with Rondon himself admitting that the weather in England had surprised him. From January onwards he became a more effective force. The raw stats for Rondon this season - four goals and two assists in 14 appearances - would not blow anyone away, but he is an effective lone striker who allows others around him to thrive. That explains the success of Phillips, James Morrison and Chris Brunt. If anything, Pulis's team have succeeded because he has the resources to be more pragmatic. His striker is effective at holding up the ball. The attacking line behind him are allowed to be creative because they are supported defensively by Claudio Yacob and Darren Fletcher. James McClean has also improved in his 12 appearances down the left-hand side. In tandem with Phillips, McClean has contributed to the step up in dribbles per game for West Brom this season, which demonstrates a new willingness to take risks. Many of the stereotypes are falling by the wayside but the set piece one still remains. They have scored seven goals from a corner this season, more than anyone else in the Premier League. As Phillips explained after the Watford game: 'Confidence is running through the side at the moment and we played some good stuff. 'We work very hard on set-pieces. Our job is to get the ball into the box and we know we have got players who can score.' Chelsea may have eyed up the fixture and seen it as an easy way to continue their exceptional run of victories. But they would be foolish to write off West Brom. The Baggies and Pulis have become one of the surprise attacking forces of the season.
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independent.ie
Jose Mourinho admits Wayne Rooney needs to rediscover his scoring touch as Manchester United seek to end their chronic goal shortage in the Premier League. Mourinho's side have only scored fewer goals this season than any of the top seven clubs West Brom – as they prepare to face Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday desperately in need of a win to stay in touch with the leading pack. And Rooney has not hit the target since the opening day of the season against Bournemouth, and scored only four goals in all competitions since February as he sits one behind Sir Bobby Charlton as United's all-time leading scorer. Playing in a deeper role for England has not helped the 31-year-old and Mourinho remains convinced that Rooney's best position is still in attack. But after replacing his captain in the second half of Thursday's Europa League win over Zorya Luhansk in Odessa, the United boss admitted that Rooney needs to weigh in with more goals to help Zlatan Ibrahimovic who has now scored seven in his last six games. 'We expect more goals from him, yes, but we expect more goals from everyone in the team,' said Mourinho. 'With me, he is an attacking player. In the national team, they can do with him what they want to do. 'In the national team he is their player, he is not my player, and they can do what they want. If they want to play him right-back, they can play him right-back. It's not my problem. 'In my team, he is an attacking player. He will play as a No.9 or a No.10, or eventually coming from one of the sides. 'So as an attacking player, normally he scores more goals. He scored a couple, I think at Fenerbahce and one in the Premier League. 'Maybe Zlatan is the one but as the main striker it is normal that he has more goals scored. But all the other attacking players, we expect more goals from them.' United have scored just seven goals in their last eight Premier League games, drawing six and losing once. Their total of 18 is 13 fewer than leaders Chelsea and 16 less than Liverpool. But Mourinho still believes that his team have been unlucky as they have slipped off the pace into sixth place. They could feasibly end the weekend in 11th if they fail to beat Spurs, having succumbed to a late equaliser at Everton last weekend. He added: 'Look, if you want to compare this match (Zorya) with the Everton match, we can; 1-0 up, complete control, (Ander) Herrera hit the post, no 2-0. They go up there in the last minute, goal. 'Tonight 1-0, we go there in the last 10 minutes, we scored the second goal. Game over. Sometimes little details make a difference and the goal is a big detail. 'We are not scoring enough goals for the football we play. I don't remember the (Zorya) goalkeeper made a lot of saves. I don't think he made any phenomenal saves. When we play against other teams in the Premier League, normally the goalkeepers are the man of the match. They save everything. Goals make a huge difference so we need to score more goals.' 'I think the team is playing very well and probably the Ukrainians fans did not see the best Manchester United of the season. 'Because the best Manchester United of the season was the team that played the last four, five or six matches in the Premier League, and managed one victory and four or five draws. We are playing very, very well, but we need more goals.' United can close the gap on fifth-placed Spurs if they can beat Mauricio Pochettino's side, and Mourinho said: 'It is always important to win. 'When we played Arsenal, it was important to win. We played to win, we deserved to win, but we didn't win. It is always important. 'We played against Everton, we had one more point more than Everton. It was important to win and go fourth. We played to win, we deserved to win, but we didn't win. 'So against Tottenham we are going to try to play. We are going to try and deserve (victory) and we are going to try to win.' Mourinho revealed that Chris Smalling's toe injury is likely to keep him out of action until the end of the year, but he should be ready to replace Eric Bailly when the Ivory Coast defender leaves for the Africa Cup of Nations. Bailly impressed on his return from a knee injury in Odessa, and Mourinho said: 'Yeah, he is a big loss but we know that, so let's hope that Smalling can recover in time to replace him in the squad. 'With so many matches, we need players. In this moment, I think we have (Phil) Jones, Bailly and Marcos (Rojo). 'Okay, we play Tottenham, we play Crystal Palace, West Bromwich, Reading, semi-finals, West Ham away - in that period we have lots of matches and it's important to have more options.'
dailymail.co.uk 
dailymail.co.uk 
independent.ie
Cape Town – President Jacob Zuma has called on public servants and people serving in state-owned entities to respect Parliament.
Public servants are required to abide by oversight requirements of Parliament at all times, without any exception, the Presidency said on Friday.
"The management and staff of government departments as well as board members, management and staff of state-owned entities and companies are all accountable to Parliament for the functions assigned to their Ministers.
"All public entities and departments were reminded to respect the other arms of the state, the Judiciary and Parliament," he said.
"They are required to co-operate with the two institutions, guided by the Constitution and the law of the land."
The Presidency's message follows the SABC board's decision not to co-operate with Parliament's inquiry into the board's fitness to hold office.
Executive members including Professor Mbulaheni Maguvhe, acting CEO James Aguma, and chief executive of corporate affairs Hlaudi Motsoeneng, walked out of the inquiry on Tuesday.
Maguvhe, the last remaining board member, on Tuesday launched a late appeal against the High Court's decision to dismiss his request for an interdict last week.
Both the president and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa fulfilled their responsibilities to Parliament in full and with respect, the Presidency said on Friday when calling for public servants to co-operate.
news24.com 
timeslive.co.za
Dec 9 (Reuters) - Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has played down talk of his team being favourites to win the Premier League title as premature and warned his players to stay focused when they host West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Chelsea are on a nine-game winning streak in the league and beat Manchester City 3-1 away last weekend, but Conte said he would only judge his team's prospects later in the season. "It's difficult to accept this (being favourites) because I think we played only 14 games, we must finish the first part of the season and then we still have the second part," the Italian told a news conference on Friday. "We started as underdogs this season but it's normal when you are playing good football and winning games. It's important after this win we don't lose our hunger. "Sunday is the type of game we will find difficult if we don't have the same focus as in previous matches. We've worked very well this week and I'm waiting on a good performance from my players. " Midfielder Nemanja Matic is available after missing the trip to City and Conte is pleased with options after Cesc Fabregas impressed in a rare start. "Cesc played a good game against City and took his opportunity," Conte said. "Now for the next game I have a choice of four midfielders - (N'golo) Kante, Matic, Fabregas and (Nathaniel) Chalobah - and I have to take the best decision for the team. "It's very important that we have good competition. If I have to put out the same line-up it's not good. " Brazilian midfielder Oscar has been ruled out of the game against seventh-placed West Brom due to illness and club captain John Terry is also unavailable. (Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
dailymail.co.uk
For the first time, seaborne radiation from Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster has been detected on the West Coast of the United States.
Cesium-134, the so-called fingerprint of Fukushima, was measured in seawater samples taken from Tillamook Bay and Gold Beach in Oregon, researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution are reporting.
Because of its short half-life, cesium-134 can only have come from Fukushima.
Also for the first time, cesium-134 has been detected in a Canadian salmon, the Fukushima InFORM project, led by University of Victoria chemical oceanographer Jay Cullen, is reporting.
In both cases, levels are extremely low, the researchers said, and don't pose a danger to humans or the environment.
Massive amounts of contaminated water were released from the crippled nuclear plant following a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. More radiation was released to the air, then fell to the sea.
Woods Hole chemical oceanographer Ken Buesseler runs a crowd-funded, citizen science seawater sampling project that has tracked the radiation plume as it slowly makes its way across the Pacific Ocean.
The Oregon samples, marking the first time cesium-134 has been detected on U. S. shores, were taken in January and February of 2016 and later analyzed. They each measured 0.3 becquerels per cubic meter of cesium-134.
Buesseler's team previously had found the isotope in a sample of seawater taken from a dock on Vancouver Island, B. C., marking its landfall in North America.
Meanwhile, in Canada, Cullen leads the InFORM project to assess radiological risks to that country's oceans following the nuclear disaster. It is a partnership of a dozen academic, government and non-profit organizations, including Woods Hole.
Last month, the group reported that a single sockeye salmon, sampled from Okanagan Lake in the summer of 2015, had tested positive for cesium-134.
The level was more than 1,000 times lower than the action level set by Health Canada, and is no significant risk to consumers, Cullen said.
Buesseler's most recent samples off the West Coast also are showing higher-than background levels of cesium-137, another Fukushima isotope that already is present in the world's oceans because of nuclear testing in the 1950s and 1960s.
Those results will become more important in tracking the radiation plume, Buesseler said, because the short half-life of cesium-134 makes it harder to detect as time goes on.
Cesium-134 has a half-life of two years, meaning it's down to a fraction of what it was five years ago, he said. Cesium-137 has a 30-year half-life.
A recent InFORM analysis of Buesseler's data concluded that concentrations of cesium-137 have increased considerably in the central northeast Pacific, although they still are at levels that pose no concern.
"It appears that the plume has spread throughout this vast area from Alaska to California," the scientists wrote.
They estimated that the plume is moving toward the coast at roughly twice the speed of a garden snail. Radiation levels have not yet peaked.
"As the contamination plume progresses towards our coast we expect levels closer to shore to increase over the coming year," Cullen said.
Even that peak won't be a health concern, Buesseler said. But the models will help scientists model ocean currents in the future.
That could prove important if there is another disaster or accident at the Fukushima plant, which houses more than a thousand huge steel tanks of contaminated water and where hundreds of tons of molten fuel remain inside the reactors.
In a worst-case scenario, the fuel would melt through steel-reinforced concrete containment vessels into the ground, uncontrollably spreading radiation into the surrounding soil and groundwater and eventually into the sea.
"That's the type of thing where people are still concerned, as am I, about what could happen," Buesseler said.
Scientists now know it would take four to five years for any further contamination from the plant to reach the West Coast.
tloew@statesmanjournal.com, 503-399-6779 or follow at Twitter.com/Tracy_Loew
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With more and more asthmatic children needing hospital treatment in Paris amid an exceptional bout of pollution, France's government is putting medics on alert and warning residents to limit outdoor activity over the weekend.
The Paris public hospital authority says it had 2,045 emergency visits by asthmatic children in the first week of December this year, compared with 1,516 in the same period last year. In a statement, the hospital authority remained prudent about the cause, but noted the health threats from the kind of particulate matter pollution currently blanketing Paris.
Health Minister Marisol Touraine said Friday that hospitals are on alert for emergency respiratory problems across the Paris region and in southeastern France.
The pollution is expected to diminish slightly over the weekend, but persist.
abcnews.go.com
NEWTOWN, Conn. — Just one week ahead of the fourth anniversary of the deadly shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, at Sandy Hook Elementary School , one father talked to CNN's Anderson Cooper on "AC360" about the hate he has received from various individuals who believe the incident was fake.
"They don't think anything bad ever happens, they don't think anyone ever gets hurt," said Len Pozner, a father of one of the 20 children killed in the mass shooting. "They think whenever they see anything on the web or on television that is a crime or mass casualty event that has to be a hoax."
The father received voice mails from what he called a "hoaxer," and has experienced other online hate as well. Pozner said, "They're pretty intense. … I still remember the chills that were running down my body, hearing the voice mails. It's over the top."
When he began to see the hoax content appearing online, he worked to take down every video depicting false evidence, and created an organization called the HONR Networks to help him do so.
"There were news reports that had some conflicting information, and so we worked to clarify that information," Pozner said. "I call it a thought virus, because really what they want to do is they just want to replicate their way of thinking to other people. What we do is we reduce the content that's on the web. We've taken down probably thousands of pieces of content on the Internet."
Pozner said this has become a part of his journey and the successes of taking down wrongful content and sharing the truth with others is what he focuses on. When Cooper asked if he thought the hoaxers will ever go away, he immediately said, "I don't think so, I don't think it will ever go away."
Pozner asked to appear on the show via phone without identifying where he was or showing his face because of the online hate and death threats he's received. He said, "It's basically just hate, they're projecting hate onto people and if someone is visible and if someone is a victim of crime, it's easy to find people these days on the web, so it's easy to gain access to someone."
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The Latest on the death of John Glenn (all times local):
9:15 a.m.
Former U. S. House Speaker John Boehner (BAY'-nur) of Ohio has added to the tributes for the late space hero and former Sen. John Glenn.
Boehner says Americans for generations cheered Glenn as he soared into the heavens, and "now he has taken his place there for eternity, a well-earned reward for an American life well and heroically lived. "
Boehner says in a statement released Thursday evening by a spokesman that he offers his and his wife Debbie's condolences to Glenn's widow, Annie, and his family and joins fellow Ohioans in mourning.
President Barack Obama and President-elected Donald Trump are among other leaders who have offered tributes to Glenn, who died Thursday in a Columbus hospital at age 95.
---
8:30 a.m.
The residents of John Glenn's hometown in eastern Ohio say he never forgot where he came from and always made time talk with anyone who wanted to visit.
Flags around New Concord have been lowered and the university where he was a trustee held a moment of silence before a basketball game Thursday after the former astronaut and U. S. senator died earlier in the day.
Glenn became a national hero in 1962 when he became the first American to orbit the Earth.
George St. Clair is on the board of the John and Annie Glenn Museum housed in Glenn's boyhood home.
He tells The Columbus Dispatch that anyone who's lived in New Concord for a while knows the Glenns.
He says the town has lost a hero and a friend.
---
12:30 a.m.
Former astronaut and U. S. Sen. John Glenn has died in Ohio. He was 95.
Glenn became a national hero in 1962 when he became the first American to orbit the Earth.
Hank Wilson with the John Glenn School of Public Affairs says Glenn died Thursday afternoon at the James Cancer Hospital in Columbus.
Glenn was the third U. S. astronaut in space and the first of them to get into orbit. He circled the Earth three times. The Soviet Union had put a man into orbit a year earlier in 1961.
Glenn then spent 24 years as a Democrat from Ohio in the Senate and briefly made a run for president in 1984. He returned to space in 1998, at age 77, aboard space shuttle Discovery.
He was the last survivor of the original Mercury 7 astronauts.
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A US Marine pilot for which flying 'was his dream' has died after ejecting from his plane during a training exercise off the coast of Japan. The body of Captain Jake Frederick was found by the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Thursday having ejected from his F/A-18 a day before about 120 miles southeast of a Marine Corps airfield in Iwakuni in western Japan. His devastated mother Donna said her son's dream was to fly and that she was pleased he fulfilled it. Captain Frederick was 'a beloved son', his mother told Stars and Stripes. 'Flying was his dream,' she added. 'He got to do that.' Marine Corps spokesman Lieutenant Joshua Hays said that Frederick was from Texas and based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in Havelock, North Carolina. He was on a rotational deployment to Japan and the cause of the crash is under investigation. The pilot's Facebook page is littered with pictures of his wife Kiley and their young son. Dozens of friends have commented on the pair being a wonderful couple. Captain Frederick, 32, was a graduate of Ray High School, and Principal Cissy Perez told K3 News : 'On behalf of the W. B. Ray teachers and staff, we express our deepest sympathy to the family. 'We will hold a moment of silence tomorrow in honor of our Ray Texan. 'From the words of our alma mater, "True to Ray he will always be".' He went on to study at the University of Texas in Austin before joining his brother Joe Bob Frederick in the Marines. The 32-year-old leaves his pregnant wife Kiley with whom he already had a young boy, according to K3 News.
abcnews.go.com
It's never been easier to launch a wildly profitable online media empire. Whether you're an aspiring mommy blogger or political pundit, $10 gets you a URL and online storage. Fill out a short form and copy-paste some code to get ads on your website.
Lure in some readers and you'll have no trouble making money.
Every 1,000 visitors earns you at least a dollar or two with traditional banner ads sold through Google — boxes typically pitching products that readers have browsed online. But the same readership generates three times the income through recommended content ads. Usually displayed in a familiar grid, they couple crazy headlines with scintillating pictures — a must-click combination dubbed chum.
"Site Reveals an Alarming Amount About Your Past (Photos & More)."
"Atrial Fibrillation Foods You Must Avoid!"
"19 Bikinis That Aren't Covering Anything."
It's that mix of ads that significantly funds much of the Internet, including major media websites LATimes.com, Bloomberg.com and Newsweek.com.
But the advertising technology companies that offer these easy-to-use services impose few regulations, inspiring a new breed of sites willing to lie to maximize revenue.
They take advantage of a general rule in online publishing: the crazier the story, the greater the interest. Capitalizing off this year's presidential election, they post exaggerated political news articles — some with made-up quotes and details — that millions of consumers can't resist opening.
Al Sharpton ditching the U. S. because of Donald Trump? President Obama banning the national anthem at sporting events? Anything to get more attention on Facebook — and more income through recommended content ads.
Thwarting fake news is now a major focus of the tech industry. Facebook, where the stories spread , has pledged to combat misleading publishers.
But it's the ad networks that can do more to stop fake news. They hold the power to remove the financial incentive for trafficking in deception.
Years ago, the only way for a publisher to sell an ad was to work directly with an advertiser. Google, AOL and others realized that this was expensive and cumbersome for both sides and built huge businesses simplifying the process through software. With just a few clicks, advertisers now automatically place messages across many publications at once. Hundreds more tech firms including Content.ad in Irvine and AdSupply in Culver City followed suit.
Israel-founded companies Taboola and Outbrain brought the lucrative recommended content ads to the forefront about a decade ago, hoping to assist publishers in two ways. Publishers can buy chum on other sites, luring readers to help fulfill viewership promises made to their own top advertisers. And publishers can get a revenue boost by housing a grid of chum links on their own stories.
It has been an effective combination for reputable sites and misleading ones.
Businesses will spend more than $30 billion on non-video online ads in the U. S. alone this year. Advertisers pay dimes or pennies each time their message gets clicked. The tech companies in the middle split the proceeds with websites that run the ads. Publishers tend to get a bigger portion the larger and more prominent they are, sometimes higher than 50%. Entrepreneurs in the misleading news business have said the pennies add up to tens of thousands of dollars in monthly income.
To advance their businesses and promote an open market, most ad technology providers set a low bar for joining, meaning that even the crummiest content can be a pathway to income. And by taking advantage of Facebook and Google, where users may click on links without considering their validity or source, millions of readers can be wrangled by a small operation creating a few stories a day.
Many ad tech firms vet sites for child porn, hate speech, violent content or illegal drugs. But checking for accuracy of information hasn't been a consideration, which is why a Conservative101.com article with a headline claiming that Sharpton was leaving the U. S. continues to absorb ad money.
In the weeks before last month's presidential election, more than 100,000 Facebook users promoted articles that claimed or implied that Hollywood star Tom Hanks had endorsed Trump for president.
Misleading articles stated that Hanks — who supported Hillary Clinton — had pledged to vote for Trump, a man the actor described to the BBC in October as a "self-involved gas bag." Hanks' publicist declined to comment for this story.
Conservative101.com, ReaganCoalition.com, WorldPoliticus.com and a several other websites that published Hanks-Trump stories produce mostly legitimate stories. But they generate inconsistent viewership, relying on the viral posts for the bulk of their traffic, according to an analysis by research firm SimilarWeb. As much as 90% of their hundreds of thousands of monthly visitors publication arrive by clicking on a Facebook link, SimilarWeb data show.
The six websites with Hanks-Trump stories use more than a dozen advertising software providers including Revcontent, Google and Teads, according to tech analysis firm BuiltWith. Others suppliers are Adblade, Amazon.com Associates, Criteo and Spoutable.
Some ad companies didn't respond to requests for comment. Nearly all the rest said they're wary of judging fact and fiction.
AdSupply Chief Executive Justin Bunnell questioned whether stating that Hanks endorsed Trump represents an accidental inaccuracy or intentional deceit. Being the arbiter in that case is not a position he finds comfortable or financially sound.
"It's not practical to have an elaborate vetting process," Bunnell said. "I'm not giving out security clearances here."
He's also unsure about the trade-offs. Does monetizing fake news harm America's free market and democratic values more than banning such a business?
"I like to do things for the net good of society, but the deeper I look into this, it's a more thorny situation," Bunnell said.
Content.ad Chief Revenue Officer Michael Rosenberg said the 45-employee Irvine company isn't an industry leader so it's monitoring what bigger players do before setting policy.
Advertisers and more highly trafficked publishers are increasingly urging ad networks to clean up their acts. Media critics and politicians want action too. They fear that misinformation leaves readers ill-equipped to make decisions. Violent consequences were highlighted last week when a man allegedly brought a rifle to a Washington, D. C., pizzeria that fake news websites had pegged as haven for pedophiles.
How deceiving a website must be to rise to the level of offensive remains a matter of debate.
"There may be little consensus on which sites and pages are fake news, but frankly those same concerns were raised about hate and even pornography," said Benjamin Edelman, a Harvard University associate business professor who studies Internet operations. Sanctioning them "is doable and probably not that hard given the concentration of fake news on a modest number of sites."
Some are making adjustments. The top two online advertising companies, Google and Facebook, have banned fake news sites from using their ad services. DoubleVerify, which provides a tool for advertisers to restrict where ads run, released a new filter for fake news websites.
ShareThrough is keeping tabs on its customer list for websites that cross a line. Revcontent is expanding beyond a ban. As early as next year, it wants to provides ratings of advertised links describing a website's quality and political slant. Data analysis and reader feedback would fuel the measurements.
"Providing more information is how you empower people," said Revcontent CEO John Lemp, who vowed to donate any profit tied to fabricated news.
It's unlikely that any action by ad technology suppliers or social media services would fully thwart purveyors of deliberately fake news. Advertising industry executives say there will always be bottom-feeders who will supply websites trafficking in pirated content, illicit drugs and worse.
There's also the element of human nature. Advertisers want eyeballs and people are more likely to click on racier content. Though established news organizations may filter out the tawdriest ads, other sites will run them and profit from them.
"Lots of junk is there because that's what people call on," said Mike Rosenberg, chief revenue officer at Content.ad.
By running the same types of ads as large media companies, misleading online publishers have given themselves a familiar look that readers may struggle to differentiate from traditional news sources. Until major publishers drop such ads in favor of new business models or focus more heavily on direct sales, the fake news ecosystem and the confusion between fact and fiction is left to endure.
Inside the ad tech industry, the ongoing focus on changing the shape, fonts and sizes of ads to garner more clicks suggests that chum is still evolving, not vanishing.
Its continued existence also shows that it works. Ad tech firms have little reason to change a product that customers are buying.
Chum brings in the viewers that advertisers covet, sometimes without revealing where they came from. In many cases the transactions run through an opaque system that leaves advertisers unaware of the sites on which their ads appeared.
Soylent, Lowermybills.com, Wisebread, Nucific and other Southern California companies whose ads came up alongside Hanks-Trump stories didn't comment on their involvement. Others said they plan to seek increased transparency and more assurances about where their ads get placed.
"Fake news sites probably perform as well as a real news website, so I don't think it makes an impact on my bottom line," said lifestyle blogger Andrew Wise, who paid for a link to his LifeTailored.com website on AmericanReviewer.com's Hanks-backs-Trump story. "That being said, from an ethical perspective, I would prefer to work with a business that prohibits fake news."
msnbc.com
Establishing himself as a major talent in his early 30s, writer-director Damien Chazelle expands upon the promise of "Whiplash" with a film rich in its palpable sense of longing and weighty because of its rumination on the compromises that must be made to reach those goals. Yet it's dressed up in dazzling song-and-dance routines, in what plays like a love letter to artists of every stripe.
"La La Land" is also, it's worth noting, wonderfully uplifting, in stark contrast to some of this year's other award contenders. Whether that taps into a certain dourness in the national mood remains to be seen, but the project should be more commercially appealing than many of the laudable candidates for such honors. (As an aside, there aren't many legitimate musicals to vie for the Golden Globes' best "comedy or musical" category.)
The story is so simple that describing risks doing the movie an injustice. Mia (Emma Stone) is an aspiring actress, working as a barista on the Warner Bros. lot. She meets the curt, brooding Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a jazz purist who labels himself "a serious musician" and yearns to open a club, while playing music that he doesn't much like in order to barely make ends meet.
Their first encounter happens wordlessly on a freeway ramp, as the beeps and groans of L. A. traffic (an ongoing character in the story) give way to a raucous dance number, with bodies flashing across hoods and roofs.
Falling in love, however, is only half the battle, as their dreams pull them in different directions. And while Mia initially has ample enthusiasm when the reminder "Audition! " flashes across her phone, given the constant rejection actors face she's left wondering at one point whether she "shoulda been a lawyer," while for all his artistic pretentions, Sebastian muses if it's "time to grow up. "
Neither Gosling nor Stone possess a Broadway belt, exactly, but for the purposes of the songs here (including six original numbers), they sound just fine, and the dance sequences are lilting and imaginative. A similar cleverness can be found in the design, such as the primary-color dresses that Mia and her friends wear for a night on the town, or the way the word "CinemaScope" splashes across the screen as the movie begins.
As good as "La La Land" is throughout, the last act elevates the movie considerably. And while everything here has roots elsewhere, the way Chazelle strings these notes together somehow looks and sounds fresh and new.
"La La Land" ultimately isn't just about a place, but a state of mind -- an ode to those who dream of making it big. And while Gosling and Stone provide much of the fancy footwork, even in these cynical times, that lighter-than-air feeling will likely infect moviegoers as well.
"La La Land" opens December 9 in the U. S. It's rated PG-13.
WATCH: Ryan Gosling Talks 'La La Land'
article.wn.com
By Chine Labbé PARIS, Dec 9 (Reuters) - IMF chief Christine Lagarde goes on trial on Monday for her role in a 400 million euro ($425 million) state payout to businessman Bernard Tapie in 2008 when she was France's finance minister. The case has cast a rare shadow over Lagarde, who is widely respected in policy circles for helping the International Monetary Fund turn the page after her predecessor Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned in 2011 facing sex assault charges. Lagarde, 60, is accused of negligence for signing off on a highly unusual out-of-court settlement between the state and Tapie, a colourful French businessman with connections to then- president Nicolas Sarkozy. Lagarde, who was France's finance minister from 2007 to 2011 before becoming IMF Managing Director, could face up to a year in jail and a fine of 15,000 euros if convicted. A guilty verdict risks plunging the IMF into a new leadership crisis after Strauss-Kahn's shock departure. "She's very determined to defend herself," her lawyer Patrick Maisonneuve told Reuters. The IMF's board, which gave her a new five-year mandate earlier this year, has said it stands behind its chief. The executive board "continues to express its confidence in the managing director's ability to effectively carry out her duties," IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told a news briefing in Washington on Thursday. SPECIAL TRIBUNAL The case goes back to when Tapie sued the state for compensation after selling his stake in sports company Adidas to Credit Lyonnais in 1993. He said the bank, owned by the French state at the time, had defrauded him after it later resold its stake for a much higher sum. Tapie subsequently received 403 million euros in a settlement that was largely borne by the tax-payer. The trial will be only the fifth heard before the Cour de Justice de la Republique, a special tribunal created in 1993 to try cases involving ministers. A panel of 15 judges, including 12 lawmakers, will pore over notes between Lagarde and her staff as she has said she was not aware of some key details at the time of her decision. Maisonneuve said the file had been largely dealt with by Lagarde's chief of staff Stephane Richard, now the chief executive of French telecoms group Orange, and that he had failed to pass on some necessary information. In focus will be correspondence from the government body that manages the state's corporate holdings. It has said it opposed the idea of settling out of court, while Lagarde's lawyer says she followed the agency's instructions. Richard, who faces a separate investigation for his role, has been called as a witness by the prosecution. He says he gave Lagarde all the information required and carried out her decisions in good faith. The verdict, which can be appealed, is likely to come at the end of hearings due to run until Dec. 20, a judicial official said. ($1 = 0.9476 euros) (Additional reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Writing by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Richard Lough)
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YANGON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Several Western countries urged Myanmar on Friday to expand humanitarian aid access to its troubled Rakhine State, where at least 86 people have been killed and 22,000 have fled to Bangladesh since the beginning of an army operation in the area. The pressure on the government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi over the crisis in the northwestern state is growing and the United Nations has called on Suu Kyi to go to the state to reassure civilians they would be protected. Soldiers have poured into the area along Myanmar's border with Bangladesh and sealed it off in response to attacks by what the government has described as Muslim militants on border posts on Oct. 9 that killed nine police officers. Out of more than 150,000 people who had been getting aid before the onset of the violence, only about 20,000 people have got any since Oct. 9, under a partial resumption of deliveries, but some 130,000 have not been reached, the United Nations said. Diplomats say decisions on aid deliveries, seemingly approved by top government officials in the capital, Naypyitaw, often get overturned or delayed by military-controlled officials in Rakhine State. "We are concerned by delays and urge all Myanmar authorities to overcome the obstacles that have so far prevented a full resumption, noting that tens of thousands of people who need humanitarian aid, including children with acute malnutrition, have been without it now for nearly two months," envoys of several countries including France, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey and United States said in a statement. The statement suggests that some diplomats - who have pressured Myanmar to reopen aid access for weeks - are losing patience with the military and government and are running out of options to influence their behaviour. Nearly 22,000 Muslims have fled to Bangladesh since Nov. 1, the United Nations said in its latest update on the situation, adding that about 30,000 people are estimated to have been displaced and thousands more affected by the fighting. Suu Kyi's government has rejected accusations by residents and human rights monitors that soldiers have raped Rohingya Muslim women, burnt houses and killed civilians, although it has established a commission led by a former senior junta member to investigate the claims. Ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and the Rohingya Muslims have lived separately in Rakhine State since clashes in 2012 in which more than 100 people were killed. The fresh outburst of violence is the biggest test for Suu Kyi's eight-month-old administration. (Reporting by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Robert Birsel)
heraldonline.com
MAASTRICHT, Netherlands (AP) - The European Union's Commission chief has used the 25th anniversary of the summit that reinforced the goal of an ever-closer union to lambast some member states that refuse to apply common rules. He says the bloc needs to rethink a looser relation for those not fully committed to the common cause. Jean-Claude Juncker acknowledged a quarter century after the Maastricht Treaty on tightly knit unity that Britain and others had changed conditions to the extent that he was considering a system where some, beyond a primary group of nations, would be in "a different orbit" to remain linked up but not necessarily close. The 28-nation EU has been rocked by the British exit referendum last year, and acrimonious relations with some eastern members on migration and constitutional law. Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
abcnews.go.com
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The illegally occupied Oakland warehouse where dozens of partygoers perished in a blaze does not appear in a database fire inspectors use to schedule inspections and may never hav...
Firefighter: Warehouse missing from fire-inspection records :: WRAL.com
wral.com
Maybe it wasn't a coincidence that the word "anti" was misspelled "atni" twice in the subject and heading of Justice Minister Jeff Radebe's speech on international anti-corruption day on Friday.
The lack of attention to spelling is consistent with the Jacob Zuma administration's lack of attention to ensure South Africa fights the scourge of corruption that has been creeping into our body politic and societal DNA since Zuma took power in 2009.
Radebe's speech about South Africa's efforts to fight corruption under Zuma leaves me cold.
Nothing could be further from the truth. This administration has done everything in its power to destroy, not embolden, the fight against graft.
This is, of course, unsurprising. Zuma was elected on an anti-anti-corruption ticket to become ANC president in Polokwane in 2007.
Zuma and his supporters (including Radebe, who is a master at changing his colours, like a true political chameleon) bought into the rhetoric that Zuma was the victim of former president Thabo Mbeki's abuse of the Scorpions to prevent him from succeeding Mbeki.
Despite a litany of evidence to the contrary – that Zuma was captured by Schabir Shaik to advance his business interests in exchange for Shaik bankrolling his lifestyle – Radebe and Co bought into Zuma's rhetoric and set in motion a process that would effectively destroy our corruption-fighting capacity in the next nine years.
Radebe himself played no small part in this. As minister of justice, he oversaw the weakening of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) by advancing the careers of Menzi Simelane and Nomgcobo Jiba at all costs.
Radebe's own track record of fighting corruption and promoting good governance is questionable. As minister of transport, he oversaw the expensive and fraught e-tolls deal being signed; the implementation of the controversial eNaTIS traffic system, and years of maladministration by Prasa.
Radebe is said to have had a very close relationship with disgraced former Prasa boss, Lucky Montana.
Radebe's protection of Jiba remains a mystery. After she was suspended from the NPA for secretly helping the police to arrest prosecutor Gerrie Nel on trumped up charges, Radebe reached a secret settlement with her and she returned to the NPA, where she later acted as national director of public prosecutions.
Throughout her obvious protection of disgraced crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli against prosecution for corruption (for allegedly looting a secret intelligence fund) and murder, Radebe was by her side. Radebe is said to have pushed hard for Jiba to be appointed as permanent head of the NPA, but lost the support of Zuma on this.
Shortly before Radebe became justice minister in 2009, the Scorpions were officially closed down by the ANC as punishment for going after Zuma. Despite the unit's flaws, it remains the highlight of democratic South Africa's fight against corruption (and gave effect to the United Nations' Convention Against Corruption, that we shall have a dedicated anti-corruption unit).
The Scorpions were replaced by the Hawks, who never became a dedicated anti-corruption unit. An amalgamation of the police's serious and violent crimes unit and commercial branch, the Hawks never had the skills or ability to fight sophisticated bribery, like the Scorpions did.
An effort was made to replace the Scorpions with an inter-governmental unit, called the Anti-Corruption Task Team (ACTT), which brought together cops, prosecutors, forensic investigators and revenue officials to target corruption through a multi-disciplinary approach (the same way the Scorpions used to conduct its investigations).
It was an opaque structure, with no identity or public profile. The ACTT was set ambitious targets by Radebe and his colleagues: it would only investigate corruption of more than R5m and bring down the real big crooks.
This never took off. Despite sporadic successes (like the John Block-Trifecta case, referred to by Radebe on Friday) the ACTT soon had to take on stock standard "chequebook fraud cases" to boost its numbers. I'm reliably told that "normal" commercial branch cases are being transferred to the ACTT to beautify its success rates.
The ACTT's experienced head of investigations, Kuben Moodley, was "worked out" and the NPA is no longer keen for its prosecutors to be part of the exercise.
When former Hawks head Anwa Dramat tried to investigate cases linked to Zuma, he was fired and replaced by the politically pliable Berning Ntlemeza, who spends most of his energy looking for dirt – ANY dirt – on Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Before Radebe lectures us on the anti-corruption successes of this administration, he should answer the following questions:
Despite some successes by over-worked and under-resourced Hawks detectives, there is simply no proof that South Africa's law enforcement agencies have the capacity or political will to deal with big corruption cases.
There is no reason for celebration on this international anti-corruption day.
* Adriaan Basson is editor of News24. Follow him on Twitter.
Anti-corruption fight casts shadow over Romanian elections
article.wn.com
CHICAGO (CBS) — A Cook County Juvenile Court judge on Thursday ruled that the minor accused of fatally stabbing 15-year-old De'Kayla Dansberry would only be sentenced as a juvenile if she was found guilty of the crime.
Associate Judge Stuart Paul Katz cited the girl's age at the time of the murder, 13, as well as her good grades, when denying the prosecution's motion for an extended juvenile jurisdiction, which would make the minor subject to an adult sentence if she failed to complete her juvenile sentence satisfactorily.
The girl could have chosen to stay home, not taken the knife her mother offered or go unarmed to the fight on May 14, 2016, that led to De'Kayla's "stupid and senseless" murder outside the Parkway Gardens housing complex, Katz said.
But the judge also noted that, based on her psychological evaluations and lack of disciplinary problems while in custody, the girl shows a "strong likelihood of rehabilitation."
The girl may not have been physically beaten at home but moving 13 times in the last five years was a form of abuse and neglect, Katz said.
Katz went on to lambaste the teen's mother, Tamika Gayden, who allegedly egged the girl on by telling her to take the murder weapon from her purse and to use it if necessary against those who had been harassing her and her friends.
"This is a woman who should never be allowed to have children in her custody and control," Katz said as Gayden looked on, dressed in Cook County Jail garb.
Gayden, of the 6400 block of South King Drive, also was charged with murder for her alleged role in the incident, as well as felony contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Members of De'Kayla's family quickly left the courtroom after Katz gave his ruling.
The accused girl, now 14, sat in the courtroom, mostly with her head tilted to the side, while drawing a flower at Thursday's hearing.
Assistant Public Defender Tamar Sirkin and her colleagues argued that she had acted in self-defense only after De'Kayla taunted her and her pals and threw punches at her friend.
Workers at the Juvenile Detention facility have noted that the girl was in "shock" and looked like a "deer in the headlights" when she was initially charged with murder.
Since then, she has isolated herself and endured crying spells, bad dreams and guilt, Sirkin said.
When she ran back into the third-floor apartment after the stabbing and learned De'Kayla had died, a friend heard her say to authorities, "Take me too. I did it too."
Assistant State's Attorney Elizabeth Schweitzer argued that the girl knew what she was doing when she and her friends stopped playing cards and went to confront the other teens, with whom they had gotten into a shouting match from the third-floor apartment.
The girl, who was armed, went outside, pulling her pink hoodie over her head in an effort to conceal her identity, Schweitzer said.
One teenage witness said the girl looked "fed up" as she went outside, Schweitzer said. Another said she saw the girl trying to clean the knife after De'Kayla was stabbed and screamed, "I killed her. I killed her."
"She could have remained in the periphery," but the girl chose to stab De'Kayla in the chest within seconds of the fight, the prosecutor said.
Sirkin and Schweitzer both presented surveillance videos that captured the stabbing as two groups of girls fought in the street.
An unmarked squad car can be seen in a nearby intersection as the brawl unfolded.
An older woman was injured when she tried to stop the rumble before it turned deadly, Schweitzer said.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2016. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
mynorthwest.com
NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Women's rights advocates must pay attention to threats in individual U. S. states where policies could set back abortion availability and health care as much as the plans of President-elect Donald Trump , activist Gloria Steinem said on Thursday.
Some of the most right-wing politics are found not so much in Washington, D. C., but in several of the 50 U. S. states, Steinem said at an evening panel held by Donor Direct Action, an organization that supports women's groups.
This month, a law is due to take effect in Texas that requires burial of fetal remains from abortions, which pro-choice advocates call unnecessary and an effort to shame women who have undergone abortions.
In Ohio, lawmakers this week approved a bill that bans abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, as early as six weeks after conception.
If signed into law, it would be one of the nation's most stringent abortion restrictions.
See more of photos of Gloria:
Courts have struck down so-called heartbeat laws in North Dakota and Arkansas, but supporters hope such measures could withstand a legal challenge in the Trump administration.
Trump has promised to appoint an anti-abortion justice to the U. S. Supreme Court and supports stripping federal funding from Planned Parenthood, whose clinics offer women's health care services including abortion.
"The overall political lesson is that we need to pay as much attention to our state legislatures as we do to Washington," said Steinem, a pioneering feminist who co-founded Ms. magazine in 1972.
"We have not done that," she said. "The battle is being fought there. "
Steinem said she is heartened by a renewed energy among women's rights advocates since the Nov. 8 presidential election, such as a planned women's march on Washington on Jan. 21, the day after Trump takes office.
"What I see in the streets and online and in all kinds of ways is that people are taking power unto themselves," she said.
"There are a lot more of us than there are of him. "
Steinem also proposed a tax resistance movement similar to that used by opponents of the Vietnam War in the 1960s who refused to pay a percentage of their income taxes that would have gone toward funding the unpopular conflict.
"In this case, we can say 'I'm sending the part of my income tax that should go to Planned Parenthood, I'm sending it directly to Planned Parenthood. Come and get me.'
"They come and collect eventually, but it costs them way more to go through the process. "
dailymail.co.uk
(WXYZ) - Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers will be playing DTE Energy Music Theatre this summer.
The band is on their 40th Anniversary Tour.
The concert date at DTE is on Tuesday, July 18.
Tickets are set to go on sale December 16 at 10 a.m. Tickets can be purchased at Livenation.com , Palacenet.com , The Palace Ticket Store and all Ticketmaster locations.
More details can be found here.
mlive.com
Dec 9 (Reuters) - Actor Judge Reinhold has been arrested at Dallas Love Field Airport after he refused to be screened at a security check point, police said. Reinhold, 59, was taken into custody at about 1:15 p.m. local time on Thursday and charged with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, the Dallas Police Department said in a statement. Reinhold, who is known for roles in movies such as "Beverly Hills Cop," "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "Gremlins," was arrested for causing a disturbance by refusing to be screened at a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint, police said. Reinhold went through a TSA scanner and was stopped when his bag set off an alarm, his lawyer, Steve Stodghill, told the Dallas Morning News. Agents asked to pat Reinhold down, but he did not understand why it was needed after he went through the scanner without an alarm, Stodghill said. Police officials were not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
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Cut 🎬 Next scene... Weigh-in ⚖️ #AJBoxing pic.twitter.com/wqeqEMwnsk
@anthonyfjoshua Cannot wait for saturday.....just been watching all your highlights of your last fights!!! Proper can't wait now. #Champ 🇬🇧
dailymail.co.uk
"Star Wars: Rogue One" will soon be released in cinemas, but some fans of the franchise are threatening to pull their support for the latest entry in the series and boycott the movie.
The hashtag #DumpStarWars began trending on Twitter yesterday after Jack Posobiec, whose Twitter bio states he is the special projects director for an advocacy group called Citizens For Trump, claimed the film had been reshot to include an anti-Donald Trump message.
Chris Weitz, one of the screenwriters of the new film, responded to say the claims were completely fake and called Posobiec a liar.
Despite Weitz shooting down the rumour, some took the claims seriously and called for politics to be kept out of "Star Wars".
Others rounded on the political views expressed by Weitz. For instance, the writer posted an image of a Star Wars icon with a safety pin through after the U. S. election. The safety pin is a symbol of solidarity with victims of hate crime.
It's worth pointing out that the Star Wars franchise has always been political. The design of the Imperial Officers' uniforms were based on Nazi uniforms, and the first film "A New Hope" was influenced by War II movies such as "The Dam Busters".
Despite the boycott, the film is still expected to do well this year. Box Office Pro forecasts the film to make $135 million in its opening weekend and a cumulative $405 million.
Star Wars: Rogue One is released on December 16.
Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook .
msnbc.com
Walt Disney's home which has portraits of him holding hands with Mickey Mouse etched on the walls has gone on sale for less than one million pounds. The house on a ranch estate in Palm Springs, California was built for the legendary cartoon maker and his family in 1962, and remained in the family until last year. It is now on the market with HK Lane Real Estate for a mere $899,000 with Disney memorabilia splattered around the house. The home is listed with estate agents HK Lane, who say: 'This sprawling home was built for the legendary cartoonist, filmmaker and amusement park owner. 'Walt Disney and his wife Lillian called this desert escape home during their twilight years. 'The home was owned by the Disney Family until 2015. 'Walt had this house built in 1962, around the time when his famous television show, Walt Disney Presents upgraded from black-and-white to color, changing its name to Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. 'It is no surprise that the interiors of this Palm Springs paradise are a study in color - with bold reds, blues and yellows making for a Technicolor experience with dramatic art deco influences. 'The new owners have lovingly preserved Walt's vision of desert luxury - keeping the vibrant and beautiful animated color scheme and most of the furniture. 'Generating income as a vacation rental home or you can treat yourself to life in the desert the way Walt Disney imagined it.' Agent Klint Watkins hasn't got a tough sell, with the house boasting four bathrooms, a furnace, a swimming pool and access to its own golf course. The listing also appears on Palm Springs Regional Association of Realtors , and the spacious four-bed home boasts 180 degrees of beautiful mountain view. Walt Disney himself lived there in 1965, and in the July edition of Palm Springs Life that year, he said he called the home Smoke Tree Ranch and described it as 'his laughing place'. He had previously visited the ranch in the 30s, and the owner at the time Charlie Doyle asked him to become a partner. 'I didn't have the money he thought I did, for I was still having problems financing my productions,' Disney told Palm Springs Life. 'Actually, it wasn't until after Mickey Mouse that we could afford to have a house there.'
cnbc.com
MOSCOW, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Russia's stance on a weekend production meeting between OPEC and non-member states remains fluid, with sources offering competing stances to Russian media.
Russian Oil Minister Alexander Novak this week said there were proposals in circulation about last week's agreement from members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to hold production steady starting in January. The levels that would need to be cut to meet the terms of the agreement are about what OPEC expects for production growth next year, though the arrangement hinges on cooperation from non-member states.
According to the economists at OPEC, Russia is on pace to average about 11 million barrels of oil production per day this year, about 1.8 percent higher than last year, and if forecasts are accurate, a post-Soviet record.
Russian news agency Tass reports some domestic reluctance to cooperate. One source told the agency "everything is on track" for a weekend meeting in Vienna, though another said the meeting might not take place.
"Maybe the meeting will be fruitful, maybe we will postpone it," the source said.
Crude oil prices have moved in volatile territory in the trading sessions before the meeting. Markets moved erratically for much of the day Thursday, but ended on a high note.
Olivier Jakob, managing director of Switzerland-based consultant Petromatrix, said markets were moving in knee-jerk fashion to whatever news headlines were evolving ahead of the weekend meeting in Vienna.
"The official Russian position should be known over the weekend and that should make Sunday evening, the opening of next week's trading, a volatile session," he said in an emailed statement.
dailymail.co.uk
Cambodia's exiled opposition leader has been tried in absentia on charges of conspiring to incite chaos through false documents posted on his Facebook page, a crime punishable by up to 17 years in prison. ...
mynorthwest.com
By Coco Liu HONG KONG, Dec 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - They are refugees, but do not live in the camps so often associated with those fleeing war or persecution. They account for around two-thirds of the global refugee population but receive little help from aid organisations. There are tens of thousands of them living in cities like Bangkok, Nairobi and Kuala Lumpur, but their lives are largely invisible. Here are five facts about "urban refugees": Who are they? As their name suggests, urban refugees are refugees living in an urban setting as opposed to refugee camps. According to the U. N. refugee agency UNHCR, as many as 60 percent of the world's 19.5 million refugees are now living in cities and towns. At least twice that number of internally displaced people -- forced to flee their home but remaining within their country's borders -- are believed to also live in cities and towns. Why do they live outside refugee camps? Some urban refugees are away from camps because there are no such places in their hosting countries. Others have chosen to leave camps or to bypass them entirely, seeking instead to settle in places where they have a better chance of finding jobs to support their families. Where do they come from? The answer varies from city to city. In Bangkok, for example, urban refugees primarily come from Pakistan, though refugees from some 40 other countries live there as well. In Mafraq city in northern Jordan, the majority of urban refugees are Syrians. And in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, the Somali population is the largest among urban refugees, followed by South Sudanese and Ethiopians, according to UNHCR. What's their life like? This depends on where they live. Registered refugees in Germany have rights to housing, can work legally and enjoy free language courses. But urban refugees living in countries like Thailand which never signed the 1951 U. N. Refugee Convention protecting refugees' rights, and in countries where refugees are tolerated only if they stay in designated camps, they do not enjoy the same protection. In these countries, urban refugees are often denied access to healthcare and education. Due to a lack of work permits, urban refugees are forced into crippling idleness or end up with taking poorly-paid informal work. Living under the radar, they are often out of reach of the help of aid agencies. To help their families survive, Syrian refugee children in Lebanon commonly work on the streets, either begging or shining shoes, and young girls often peel garlic at restaurants for $1 per day, a 2016 report by the Freedom Fund found. What risks do they face? In countries such as Thailand, urban refugees live in fear of being arrested and returned to their home country. Some refugee children don't go to school and spend entire days indoors. Urban refugees are also at risk of human trafficking. In January, the EU's criminal intelligence agency Europol said at least 10,000 unaccompanied child refugees had vanished after arriving in Europe, at risk of falling prey to trafficking gangs, sex abuse and slavery. Refugees in cities, especially in large numbers, can stir resentment among the host community. In Jordan, for example, demand for housing from Syrian refugees has driven up the cost of rent in cities of Mafraq and Ramtha, fuelling tensions over resources between the refugees and local communities, humanitarian research firm ACAPS said in a 2016 report. (Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)
dailymail.co.uk
X Factor act 5 After Midnight have spoken out in support for Liam Payne and Cheryl, after their mentor Louis Walsh appeared to slam the expectant couple. Ahead of the final this weekend, the boyband- who are up against Saara Aalto and Matt Terry, took to Twitter on Friday to voice their backing for the duo. Trio Kieran Alleyne, Jordan Lee and Nathan Lewis tweeted from their official band's account, writing: 'Louis is Louis.. we support @LiamPayne & @CherylOffical. Kieran is currently going through the same situation so we know how amazing it is'. Scroll down for video Kieran, 21, is currently expecting his first child with girlfriend Sophie. Earlier in the day the band appeared on ITV's Lorraine, and voiced their support for the couple while excusing Louis' comments. Speaking to Dan Wootton as they took time out from rehearsals, Kieran- who recently revealed his girlfriend is pregnant, explained: 'Louis is Louis, he'll do what he does! 'We really support Cheryl and Liam with their situation… I know how it feels , I've got a baby on the way.' Liam launched into an angry Twitter tirade against Louis in the early hours of Friday morning after the X Factor judge told a reporter to 'f**k off' at a photocall ahead of this weekend's final. Criticising the way the Irishman handled a question about the One Direction star's pregnant girlfriend Cheryl , Liam, 23, raged: 'Congratulations Louis Walsh for setting the worst example on handling media for his band who are about to step into a very hard industry.' He swiftly followed it up with a second tweet, which read: 'Maybe it's about time you realise it's not all about you and shut the f**k up for once, let them speak' The singer was referring to Louis's act Five After Midnight, who were stood beside their mentor at the time. The furore started when a reporter asked Louis what he'd do if Simon Cowell asked Cheryl, 33, to return to the judging panel. Riled, the Irishman responded: 'Well Simon wouldn't invite Cheryl back because we have Nicole. We have Nicole and Sharon, we don't need another girl. 'So go and f**k off now!' He then leant forward and playfully slapped at the reporter, before adding: 'No silly questions, seriously. It's not about Cheryl. Don't be stupid, man.' Louis was also dismissive when asked about Spice Girls offshoot GEM pulling out of a surprise collaboration with the boys in the final. He said: 'It's not about The Spice Girls, it's about Five After Midnight... so stop talking about them.' Both Louis and Dermot admitted to MailOnline that they have not yet seen or congratulated Cheryl since the debut of her pregnancy bump. Speaking at the photocall for the final at Wembley Arena, the judge claimed he was 'not really excited' about it as he has not seen her for so long, while the host admitted he will not congratulate her until 'it's official'. The Promise This singer was a judge on the ITV singing competition for four years in total - working alongside Louis and Dermot in 2008-10 and again in 2014. At the photo call on Thursday, the duo remained coy about the rumours of her pregnancy with boyfriend Liam Payne, but both admitted that they had not seen her to congratulate her on the news. Dermot, 43, revealed that he did fully intend to pass his best wishes on to the brunette beauty, but that he was waiting for a conclusive announcement. This isn't the first time Louis and Liam have locked horns - in an interview with The Telegraph , the plain spoken judge said One Direction's biggest downfall was that they 'believed the hype around them'. He told the newspaper: 'We create monsters in the music business – they only become famous because they've been on the show and we got you those songs. 'They're lucky f**kers, but some get a sense of entitlement and believe the hype. Too many artists appear to forget where they came from.' 1D were put together by Cowell on the 2010 series of The X Factor and went on to enjoy worldwide pop superstardom after placing third on the show. He's also slammed Girls Aloud, claiming that Nadine Coyle was the 'only band member who could sing.' In a radio Interview earlier this summer, The X Factor judge, 63 - who managed the chart-topping girlband in the early 2000s after they won Popstars: The Rivals - unleashed an epic tongue-lashing on the now-disbanded group, no doubt reigniting his long-running feud with Cheryl in the process. 'I didn't give them a lot of my time but they didn't give me time and they didn't even like each other!' he told Kate Thornton on BBC Radio 2. Louis added: 'Nadine was the only real singer there. She should have married the footballer. 'Look at Victoria Beckham, it worked for her. And Louise Redknapp... and wasn't Cheryl married to a footballer?' The twosome have had regular spats since his relationship with the band turned sour in 2005. Louis previously branded Cheryl 'lazy and irrelevant', with Cheryl hitting back on Twitter, accusing him of being obsessed with her. At the time he told Heat of the star's stint on The X Factor: 'Cheryl wasn't great last year. She's sometimes lazy and lacks energy. 'She needs to give more, she can give so much more. She's irrelevant these days.' The Hearbreaker singer hit back on social media, tweeting: 'I am beginning to wonder if Louis has some kind of an obsession with me. Cheryl is thought to be expecting a baby with One Direction's Liam. The singer sparked rumours the pair were expecting earlier this year when she first debuted a fuller figure - before displaying a baby bump at St James' Christmas Carol Concert in London earlier this month. With her blossoming appearance all but confirming her much-speculated pregnancy, The Sun 's Dan Wootton took to Lorraine later that week to reveal the reason Cheryl has maintained her silence on the matter. He told the show host: 'Cheryl's told close friends and family. I think everyone knows the battles she's gone through in her personal life, the fact she so desperately wanted this for so many years, and it didn't come. 'She's totally ecstatic, happy... apparently she's been very open with friends and family.' Further highlighting that the singing duo's relationship is only going from strength to strength, it was then reported that Liam was thinking about popping the question after the new arrival.
dailymail.co.uk
BEIRUT, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Islamic State seized more territory from Syrian government forces near the ancient city of Palmyra on Friday in fierce clashes that raged for a second day, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. The jihadists launched an attack late on Thursday in which they captured grain silos northeast of Palmyra and have since taken at least partial control of oil and gas fields to its northwest. Dozens of Syrian troops have been killed in the fighting, the British-based Observatory, which tracks the war using sources on the ground, said. Syrian warplanes were carrying out air raids in the area in an effort to take back positions lost. The fighting was some of the fiercest in the area since the Syrian army recaptured Palmyra after nearly two years in March, driving out the ultra-hardline militants who had destroyed large parts of the city's UNESCO World Heritage ruins. Islamic State has been on the back foot in both Syria and Iraq since late last year, losing much of its territory in both countries as well as some of its most senior figures, killed in air strikes. The group took advantage of chaos during Syria's civil war to seize territory there and in Iraq in the summer of 2014. Syria's civil war pits President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Iran, Russia and Shi'ite militias against mostly Sunni rebels. (Reporting by John Davison; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
dailymail.co.uk
By Yashaswini Swamynathan Dec 9 (Reuters) - Major U. S. stock indexes took aim at record highs for the third straight day on Friday as a post-election rally showed no signs of abating. The "Trump rally" has been running since the Nov. 8 vote as investors bet President-elect Donald Trump's policies will boost economic growth and inflation. The three main U. S. indexes closed at record levels for the second day in a row on Thursday, while the small cap Russell 2000 and the Dow Transport hit all-time highs. Adding to the upbeat mood in the past weeks has been a spate of robust economic data, including on monthly hiring numbers, GDP growth and inflation, which have underscored the economy's strength. With the rally about to enter its second month, valuations may come under scrutiny. The S&P 500 is currently trading at about 17.5 times forward twelve-month earnings, above the 10-year median of nearly 15 times, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine. "We are leaning in the direction of going up, and at some point it will get too much, but apparently the market is telling us that today is not too much," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst, Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh. Oil prices rose 0.7 percent, up for the second day in a row, on optimism that a non-OPEC producers meeting would result in an agreement to bolster the group's output cut deal. Data on tap for Friday is a preliminary reading of the consumer sentiment index for December, which is expected to hit 94.5 after rising to a 6-month high the previous month. The report is due at 10:00 a.m. ET (1500 GMT). The resilience of the stock market will be put to test after the Federal Reserve's policy meeting next week, where traders expect a 94 percent chance of an interest rate increase. Dow e-minis were up 23 points, or 0.12 percent at 8:15 a.m. ET, with 9,371 contracts changing hands. S&P 500 e-minis were up 1 point, or 0.04 percent, with 88,063 contracts traded. Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 9.25 points, or 0.19 percent, on volume of 10,878 contracts. Among stocks, Restoration Hardware plunged 17.80 percent to $32.05 premarket after the furniture retailer lowered its fourth-quarter profit forecast, citing slow sales in the holiday period. Wynn Resorts rose 7.5 percent to $95 after Macau, the world's biggest gambling hub, clarified it had not tightened daily cash withdrawal limits for Chinese gamblers. Broadcom rose 5.7 percent to $180.50 after the chipmaker reported upbeat fourth-quarter results and forecast, and doubled its dividend. Biogen rose 4.3 percent to $302.10 following a study that showed higher doses of its Alzheimer's drug appeared to reduce the risk of brain swelling. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
dailymail.co.uk
Hillary Clinton – the woman who voted for a war that was sold on a diet of fake news – a war that killed hundreds of thousands of people – is now lecturing Americans about fake news putting "lives at risk".
"The epidemic of malicious fake news and false propaganda that flooded social media over the past year – it's now clear that so-called fake news can have real world consequences," said Clinton during a speech on Thursday for retiring Nevada Senator Harry Reid.
"Lives are at risk — lives of ordinary people just trying to go about their days, to do their jobs, contribute to their communities," she added.
Hillary went on to say that it was imperative for the public and private sector to take action against fake news "to protect innocent lives".
Such concern for "innocent lives" wasn't apparent when Hillary supported the fake news narrative that led to the slaughter in Iraq, a war that ended hundreds of thousands of innocent lives.
A war based on the completely fake contrived narrative, based on fake whistleblowers, and fake intelligence, that said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11.
Nor was Hillary's sympathy for innocent lives evident when she helped push the fake news that jihadist rebels in Syria and Libya were actually "moderate," in order to send them weapons , a narrative and a conflict that led to hundreds of thousands more dead and displaced people, in addition to a wrecked continent and the rise of ISIS.
Hillary's sudden worry over fake news putting lives at risk was also noticeably absent back in September 2012, when she advanced the fake news story that a YouTube video was to blame for the attack on Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other innocent people.
Hillary Clinton is the queen of fake news. When she's not pushing fake news to start wars that really do put lives at risk, she's faking news about being under Bosnian sniper fire in order to look tough.
Being lectured by Hillary Clinton about fake news is like being lectured by Ted Bundy about not raping and killing women.
It's a joke, but a particularly sick joke given that Hillary's role in pushing fake news has actually led to the deaths of countless innocent people.
Click here for the real fake news list.
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infowars.com
Britain's trade gap narrowed to a better-than-expected £9.7 billion in October after exports soared to a record monthly high. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the goods deficit - the gap between exports and imports - narrowed by £4.1 billion in October from £13.8 billion in September, with exports rising £2.1 billion to £26.8 billion and imports dropping £2 billion to £36.5 billion. With services included, the trade gap narrowed by £3.8 billion to £2 billion in October, as exports increased by £2 billion and imports dropped by £1.8 billion. The brighter picture for the UK's trade deficit was driven by strong goods exports to non-EU countries, which jumped to a new high of £14.4 billion, while exports of goods to non-EU countries came in at £12.4 billion. However, ONS Statistician Hannah Finselbach said there was only "limited evidence" that the plunge in the value of the pound following the Brexit vote had led to a marked increase in UK exports. Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: " The total trade deficit narrowed substantially to a five-month low of £2 billion in October after widening to £5.8 billion in September from £5.4 billion in August and £3.6 billion in July. "Exports likely increasingly benefited in October from the weakened pound lifting foreign demand for UK good and services. "The hope for the UK economy going forward is that the substantial overall weakening of the pound since the UK voted to leave the European Union in June's referendum will increasingly feed through to boost foreign demand for UK goods and services. "This is all the more important given the weakening prospects for domestic demand due to likely deteriorating consumer fundamentals and increased uncertainty when the UK starts the Brexit process by triggering Article 50. " He said the narrowing of the trade deficit and October's 4.6% monthly rise in exports raised hopes that net trade will boost gross domestic product (GDP) in the fourth quarter. But despite shrinking month-on-month, the total trade deficit in goods and services widened by £4.7 billion to £13.2 billion in the three months to October, as exports rose by £1.6 billion, but imports climbed by £7.7 billion. The UK Government is hoping the Brexit-hit pound will increase the appetite for UK products on the global stage by making British products cheaper. But the sterling's collapse has proved a double-edged sword, hammering firms with sharply higher import costs which are likely to be passed on to consumers. The Bank of England predicts inflation will nearly treble over the next two years, shooting up to 2.7% for 2017 and 2018. The trade update comes after ONS figures showed that output in Britain's manufacturing sector unexpectedly slumped to a fall of 0.9% in October, as a sharp drop in pharmaceutical production dragged on the industry, Industrial production also plunged below expectations, dropping for the third month on the bounce to a decline of 1.3% in October in contrast to September. Britain's construction industry also defied predictions in October, with output falling 0.6% month on month, compared with economist estimates of a 0.3% rise.
dailymail.co.uk
The festive season well and truly kicked off at the Etihad last weekend with pantomime villains, cards aplenty and Manchester City handing their title rivals an early present. Sergio Aguero's lunge at David Luiz and the childish slapping, pushing and shoving that followed left the striker on the naughty step for the next four games, midfielder Fernandinho with three matches on the sidelines to think about his behaviour and manager Pep Guardiola not angry, just disappointed. Kids at Christmas, what can you do? When the dust settled on Chelsea's 3-1 win, they jumped to the head of the betting to be crowned champions - 13/10 is the best on offer - while City were pushed out to 10/3, the biggest price they've been since the market opened. This weekend, only Arsenal can catch the Blues as they sit three points back and play on Saturday. The Gunners have clicked into gear with thumping wins at West Ham and Basle over the past week and are buoyed by topping their Champions League group for a change. Stoke head to north London having lost just once in nine games but Manchester United (currently sixth) are the highest-placed team they've faced in that run. The Potters have also lost on every league trip to the Emirates - that's eight in a row and with Alexis Sanchez on fire for the hosts it's about to be nine. Sanchez has joined Diego Costa at the top of the scoring charts, despite struggling away on £130,000 a week ( click here for more on that ), and after his hat-trick at West Ham, he's 16/1 with Betfred for another treble. We'll be on the 10/3 (Bet365) he scores two or more. He was 14/1 in the top-scorer race before last weekend but has been trimmed to 6/1 (Bet Victor) behind 15/8 favourite Costa and Aguero, who has been pushed to 3/1 after booking himself Christmas off. Aguero has left Kelechi Iheanacho in charge of banging them in for City in his absence. In the last five matches Aguero has missed, the youngster has scored five goals and should fancy his chances against Leicester. Claudio Ranieri sent out a much-changed side for the dead rubber at Porto and they were whipped 5-0 but the first team aren't doing much better – one league win since mid September. Man City only slip up against the decent teams though (see Chelsea and Spurs) so get on an away win. Several firms offer 3/4 while Iheanacho in a score-win double is 21/10 with Ladbrokes. In Saturday's other games, Watford and Everton square up at lunchtime. Everton are ropey on the road (one point in their last five games away from Goodison) but Watford have lost two on the spin and in their last six have only beaten Hull and Leicester. Any draw with both teams scoring is 18/5 (Bet Victor). Burnley vs Bournemouth should be on any BTTS line while Crystal Palace are 13/10 (Paddy Power and Betway) to win at Hull. Alan Pardew got a thumbs-up from chairman Steve Parish after beating Southampton with Christian Benteke scoring twice. A Benteke score-win double this week is 5/2. Down at the bottom, Swansea host Sunderland and since Bob Bradley arrived in Wales in early October, his side have conceded the most goals in the division - 19. Add that to Jermain Defoe coming alive like a Christmas elf – he loves December and only Wayne Rooney, Alan Shearer and Robbie Fowler have more goals than his 24 in the month. Have a nibble at over 3.5 goals in the game at 9/4 and over 4.5 at 11/2. Just a nibble mind, don't jump in Marcos Rojo style. On Sunday, it's over to the leaders and Chelsea's early match with West Brom offers Eden Hazard the chance to score his 50th Premier League goal. With Costa heading every scorer market, you can get 5/4 on Hazard hitting that target. Or what about a Costa-Hazard double? Both to score is 13/5. Manchester United and Tottenham meet at Old Trafford – a ground the north Londoners hate even more than Wembley although they did finally win under the arch on Wednesday night. They've lost 19 times on United's patch in the Premier League – their most defeats at a visiting ground. They've also won just three times since the start of October but two of those victories were in the past seven days – against Swansea and CSKA Moscow – and they do have Harry Kane hitting his stride (seven goals in six games since returning from injury). But, no top-flight team has drawn more at home than United (four) and a share of the points is the best bet here. And remember, United, who were on Europa League duty in Ukraine on Thursday, have dropped more points than any other team in the closing stages of matches. So, have a look at the 3/1 (Winner) on offer for the last goal in this game to come on or after the 81st minute. Southampton should be able to see off Middlesbrough and Liverpool should do the same to West Ham. But if Bournemouth can stick four past the Reds surely the hapless Hammers, with Andy Carroll fit again, can get one. Liverpool to win with both teams scoring is widely available at 13/8 while Bet365 have Carroll 10/3 to score at any time against his former club. Try Carroll, Defoe and Kane in this week's anytime treble and that returns 34/1 with Unibet, 32Red and 888Sport. Prices from oddschecker , correct at time of publication
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It was a case of job done for Manchester United as they beat Zorya Luhansk 2-0 on Thursday night, meaning Jose Mourinho and his players could sleep comfortably after they secured Europa League progress. The Red Devils arrived back in Manchester at 2.40am on Friday morning after making a quick exit from Odessa, and no doubt tried to catch a few hours sleep during the four-hour flight home with a little help from the club's 'official mattress and pillow partner'. As the squad arrived home at Manchester Airport, after goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic took them through to the next round, United players and staff were pictured carrying club-branded travel pillows, supplied by Mlily. A bleary-eyed Mourinho, complete with his own neck pillow, led his team through the airport while assistant Rui Faria and defenders Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo also showed off their club-issue sleep aid. The red pillows have a United logo on them, while Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney, Paul Pogba and David De Gea are pictured on the packaging. When United's five-year deal with Mlily was announced in October, the club said the deal would see the company help improve the quality of the players' sleep and with their recovery following matches. Mlily also work with staff at the club's training ground, where their mattresses are used in the 'sleeping pod' at Carrington. The company are just one of more than 60 official partners listed by United on their website, with the Red Devils also having links with businesses ranging from airlines, clothing ranges and banks to confectionary, wine and paint. While not all the United players carried their pillows through the airport, a number did stop to sign autographs for waiting fans a little before 3am. Goalscorer Mkhitaryan, Marcus Rashford, Ashley Young and Daley Blind all stopped to meet fans, while Mourinho posed for a selfie on his way through the airport. Mkhitaryan was a man in demand in the airport as crowds gathered around him, after he opened his account for his new club with a neat finish in the first half. Speaking after the game, the Armenian insisted he now wants to score for the first time at Old Trafford, with the next chance coming when they host Tottenham on Sunday. 'I think it can be a weight off your shoulders,' said Mkhitaryan. 'I've been waiting a long time for this goal. The next one has to be at Old Trafford – I want to score at home. 'The most important is that we won and are going through to knock-out stage.' United will discover their opponents in the first knockout round when the draw is made on Monday, December 12 , with the Red Devils potentially facing the likes of Ajax, Roma, Athletic Bilbao, Shakhtar Donetsk, Schalke and Fiorentina. But, whoever they face, a pair of former United players are confident of success. Speaking on BT Sport, both Paul Scholes and Michael Owen backed their former team to go on and win the competition. Scholes said: 'I wouldn't be worried by any of these teams to be honest with you. I think United have got a really good squad. 'They are starting to play some really good football and I think rightly so, they are favourites to win this competition. 'I can see them going all the way, there isn't one team in there that worries me.' Owen added: 'Every team that they've picked, even if you say "oh he's rested five or six players", it's still a side that you think that could be their first choice XI. They are such a strong squad.'
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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A well-known visual projection artist who toured the globe was among the 36 people killed in a fire that engulfed a dance party inside an Oakland warehouse. ...
Oakland artists fear crackdown after Ghost Ship fire
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Philadelphia 76ers 99, New Orleans Pelicans 98
NEW ORLEANS -- Dario Saric scored eight consecutive points in a decisive fourth-quarter surge and Ersan Ilyasova had a team-high 23 points as the Philadelphia 76ers snapped a 23-game road losing streak with a 99-88 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans Thursday night at the Smoothie King Center.
The Sixers (5-18) entered the game with the NBA's worst record, but they placed five players in double figures. Besides Ilyasova, guard Segio Rodriquez had 16, Joel Embiid and Nik Stauskas 14 each, and Saric 13.
The Pelicans (7-16) lost their fourth consecutive game despite Anthony Davis ' 26 points and 11 rebounds. Only one other Pelican -- guard Langston Galloway -- scored in double figures with 19 points.
Chicago Bulls 95, San Antonio Spurs 91
CHICAGO -- San Antonio didn't have an answer for why it started 13-0 on the road, and then had no answer for Chicago at the United Center.
The Bulls led start to finish to end a three-game losing streak and hand the Spurs their first road loss. San Antonio needed one more road win to tie the NBA record of 14 straight road victories to start a season, set by the Golden State Warriors last season.
Rajon Rondo led the way for Chicago by finishing an assist short of a triple-double (12 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists). Dwyane Wade finished with 19 points and Jimmy Butler added 13.
Washington Wizards 92, Denver Nuggets 85
WASHINGTON -- Bradley Beal scored 26 points and John Wall had 15 as Washington fended off Denver.
Wall wasn't close to the career-high 52 points he scored in Tuesday's 124-116 home loss to the Orlando Magic , but nine came in the fourth quarter. Denver only had 12 in the final period, including four over the last 10 minutes. Markieff Morris also scored 15 for the Wizards.
Nikola Jokic had 17 points and Danilo Gallinari scored 14 for the Nuggets, who have lost five of six. Denver led by 14 points in the first quarter, but faded over the final three periods. The Wizards outscored the Nuggets 45-33 in the second half one game after allowing the Magic to score their most points on the season.
Toronto Raptors 124, Minnesota Timberwolves 110
TORONTO -- DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points, Kyle Lowry added 25 points and 11 assists and Toronto came back to defeat Minnesota.
Toronto's Jonas Valanciunas added 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Zach LaVine scored 29 points, Anthony Wiggins added 25 and Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 17 points and 11 rebounds for Minnesota.
Memphis Grizzlies 88, Portland Trail Blazers 86
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Reserve guard Toney Douglas connected on two free throws with 0.5 seconds remaining to lift Memphis past Portland at FedExForum.
The Grizzlies rallied from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to win their fifth straight.
Center Marc Gasol led Memphis with a season-high 36 points and JaMychal Green added a career-high 18 rebounds.
Golden State Warriors 106, Utah Jazz 99
SALT LAKE CITY -- Stephen Curry scored 26 points and Kevin Durant added 21, including 11 in fourth quarter, to help Golden State hold off a late rally and beat Utah.
Draymond Green added 13 points for the Warriors while Klay Thompson and Patrick McCaw chipped in 10 apiece. Golden State won its eighth consecutive road game -- the third-longest streak in franchise history.
Joe Ingles scored a career-high 21 points to lead Utah. Rudy Gobert finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds, for his 14th double-double of the season, and Shelvin Mack chipped in 19. It wasn't enough for the Jazz (14-10) to overcome a sluggish first-quarter start.
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Shocking pictures taken in morgues in the Philippines show the brutal realities of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs - months after he urged citizens to open funeral parlours and said: 'I'll supply the dead bodies'. Since July, police have killed more than 2,000 suspected drug dealers, while a further 3,000 deaths are being investigated, amid fears of extrajudicial murders. The president faces calls to punish police officers who act outside the law, and even funeral parlour owners believe the killings are out of control. Manila undertaker Alejandro Ormeneta said he and his colleagues retrieve an average of five corpses a night. In one instance, the 47-year-old told AFP, he had to take three nails out of the skull of an alleged drug dealer. 'This shouldn't happen, they are people, not animals,' he said. 'I think he was still alive when they hammered the nails. They tied him up first, put tape around his head, then hammered the nails in... that must have been so painful. I felt so sorry for him.' On another occasion, he was sent to pick up the body of Danilo Bolante, 47, who police said had been selling shabu, the cheap crystal methamphetamine that Duterte says is ruining society and must be eradicated. He was shot dead by masked gunmen. But Bolante's devastated sister, Chona Balina, said the allegation was not true, and said he had reported himself as a former user who wanted to change, registering on a Duterte campaign called Tokhang. She asked: 'Why launch Tokhang if that's what they are going to do with people who are already changing?' Duterte has repeatedly denied that police are carrying out extrajudicial killings, but in September said he would be 'happy to slaughter' three million drug addicts. He has also told police to kill drug dealers who violently resist, or if officers feel like they are in danger. During his presidential campaign, he said, to cheers and laughter at one rally: 'The funeral parlours will be packed... I'll supply the dead bodies.' A report by senators this week said there was no clear proof that extrajudicial killings were state-sponsored, but it called on Duterte to observe due process. 'The war against illegal drugs must be won within the legal system, and the president must lead in reminding the people of this important message,' senators wrote. The senators, including the president's allies, also cautioned the unpredictable Duterte to be 'careful with his words (and) avoid inappropriate statements lest they be construed as policies of the state'. On Wednesday, Duterte defended police officers who killed a detained mayor on a list of top drug suspects, even after another law enforcement agency concluded the death was an extrajudicial killing. 'When the police deem themselves to be omnipotent, they are emboldened and more killings ensue; the duty to protect the people is thrown out the window,' the senators said in their report, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters. 'The offshoot will be silencing accused drug pushers and drug lords without affording them the bill of rights guaranteed to them by the constitution.' Funeral director Rico Teodocio told AFP that the families of those killed are often unable to pay for funerals, and often gives discounts. He said: 'I don't know if pathetic is the right term to use but you really pity them. We suffer too because we give our lowest price.' Many bodies go unclaimed, Ormeneta said, either because families do not know about the death, do not want to be associated with the drug trade, or are too poor to pay. 'It's sad. They die without anyone coming for them,' he said said, pointing at black corpses at the back of the morgue.
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Coming off his best game in a Rain or Shine jersey, James Yap believes that he's now ready to face his old team Star.
"I'm going to prepare hard for that game. I came from there, spent 12 years and won seven championships there. People have been anticipating for that game," he said, as he looks forward to the duel next Sunday.
Yap fired a season-best 15 points and five rebounds in the Elasto Painters' 107-93 win over Blackwater on Friday, and he's convinced that slowly, he's getting his bearings back.
"I'm already 80 to 90-percent when it comes to my conditioning. I'm close. At least, I'm getting my rhythm back, but it's still not solid," he said.
"All I want is to be ready. I'm the new guy in this team, so I want my adjustment to not affect the team as a whole. We all know Rain or Shine is a strong team and has good players, so we have to be on the same level as they are."
And so far, semblance of the old Yap is showing as he slowly finds his role among the Elasto Painters' deep
artillery.
With Star next on Rain or Shine's schedule, the two-time PBA Most Valuable Player made it clear that if there's one game he badly wants to win, it's definitely this one.
"It's still basketball. I don't want to pressure myself so all I have to do is play my game," he said. "We'll see. If I have a bad game, it is what it is. But I want to win this game and we still have to play it."
He ended: "We're always ready here in Rain or Shine. All the players and coaches know that this game is a big deal for me, and I'm sure they'll be there to support me."
sports.inquirer.net
It may beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, but even while the festivities are taking place Premier League clubs will be busy preparing behind the scenes for the January transfer window. Clubs will have between January 1 and 11pm on January 31 to chase the targets that could prove the difference in the title challenge, clinch a European place or to save some from the dread of relegation. Sportsmail brings you all the latest news from around the world as it happens...
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While most of their Premier League title rivals have been competing in Europe this week, Antonio Conte and has Chelsea players have been busily preparing for their clash with West Brom this weekend. The Blues sit three points clear at the top of the table following their 3-1 victory at Manchester City and now face a West Brom side who are unbeaten in their last four matches. Conte will address the media ahead of the game from around 1pm on Friday, and you can keep up to date with Sportsmail's live commentary.
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A fake 'happy hour' playset that had parents believe Santa Claus was telling their toddlers to spend more time at the bar drew outrage online, even though it was only the product of a trickster's imagination. Photos of the fake playset began circulating on social media earlier this week, prompting outraged comments from adults who thought it was a real, poor-taste toy that had no place under the Christmas tree. Some suspected it was a joke but thought the mere image, real or not, was intolerable. The fake playset featured three toddlers at a miniature pretend bar counter. One of them seemed to be playing the part of the bartender, wiping the counter with a grumpy frown. The other two looked as if they were holding bottles - not the kind usually reserved for babies. But Fisher-Price, whose logo appeared on the fake image, promptly dispelled any doubt and told concerned parents that the playset was not being manufactured or endorsed by them. Some parents still thought the joke was distasteful, while others got ribbed for lacking a sense of humor. 'I think this is a terrible gift,' one Facebook user wrote, apparently thinking the playset was real. 'Hard to comprehend a company making such a thing. 'You may not think this so funny [sic] in a few years! Why would you trivialize drinking with small children! 'They will be impressed with the "coolness" of it. You may not think it so great [sic] when they have a problem or kill someone else drinking and driving!' Another poster wrote: 'Well I guess they want them to learn at a young age' next to a dismayed emoji. Others were more measured, with one woman explaining she agreed the set could be viewed as problematic, adding: 'But at the same time it's not like it's a toy where you learn to drink alcohol there's nothing wrong with being a bartender but I do think it's odd that it's a toy for toddlers.' A man named Brian posted a photo on Fisher-Price's Facebook wall, prompting the company to respond: 'Hi, Brian! Thanks for reaching out! This product is not endorsed, produced or approved by Fisher-Price.' One parent understood the set was not real but still found the photo too distasteful to handle. 'Even though this is fake, having a child of my own, this is incredibly disgusting. "Jokes" are why this world is full of users,' the parent wrote. Others found the joke funny and took it to new heights, with one woman speculating that a White Russian cocktail with breast milk would be delicious.
The Seven Year Switch stars only recently welcomed their fourth child into the world. But Ryan and Cass Thistleton seem to be coping with the pressures of parenthood just fine. A sweet snap posted to Instagram on Friday shows Cass snuggling up to her three children in a tender snap. Ramani, Cass' ten-year-old from a previous relationship, laid smiling next to her one-year-old sister Emmerson and five-month-old Mena. The foursome appeared to be in their pyjamas and arranged themselves in a circle shape, with their heads close together. Cass and Ryan had another child, Dex, who was stillborn. In an Instagram post earlier this year, the couple described their strong feelings towards continuing to keep his memory alive. 'We have a son who is not with us,' they wrote. 'He may have passed away when we went into labour at 37.5 weeks, and even though we didn't get to bring him home from hospital, it doesn't make him any less of a human and he deserves recognition as our child too! 'Dex was considered stillborn. We had a funeral. He had a coffin and he has a birth and death certificate. He was REAL.' They also touched on the pain of never knowing how such a tragedy came to be. 'Dex (our son) was perfect to the eye, seemingly healthy and his death is still unexplained,' they wrote. When they first appeared on Seven Year Switch, a reality show that uses partner swapping as a means of relationship counselling, they admitted losing Dex had been a big part of their troubles. But it appears since leaving the show and giving birth to baby Mena, the couple and their children are now happier than ever.
Two 'faithless electors' in Colorado are taking their case to federal court. Colorado Democrats Polly Baca and Robert Nemanich are trying to overturn a law requiring them to give their Electoral College votes to the candidate who won a majority of ballots in their state. U. S. District Court Judge Wiley Daniel will hear their case on Monday, Politico reports. Daniel is a Bill Clinton appointee. Hillary Clinton won Colorado - but the electors are part of a group that's pushing for Electoral College reforms. Rebel electors want to free up Republicans whose state laws require them to vote for Trump to cast their ballot for someone else. Mitt Romney and John Kasich have been floated as consensus picks. 'If we cannot use the Electoral College as a deliberative process ... then we ought to do away with it,' Baca told Politico. Baca was the first Hispanic woman to hold a seat in Colorado's state senate and she co-chaired the Democratic National Convention in 1980 and 1984. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2000. Nemanich told Politico that five of his state's electors had agreed to a protest vote, creating a six-person coalition. Colorado has nine electoral votes. To keep Trump from winning, 'faithless electors,' as they're known, need to convince 37 Republican electors from voting for Trump on Dec. 19. Trump has 306 electoral votes to Clinton's 232. The Constitution mandates a candidate reach 270 to become the next president. Clinton has nowhere near enough votes to win. If Trump does not win, the burden falls on the House of Representatives. The Republican-run body could choose to side against Trump and put in someone like Kasich or Romney. It's the longest of long shots. If Democratic electors from Washington and Colorado follow through with their plan, they'll be the largest group of defects since 1872. 'The voters have spoken, and we think that folks will do what the voters have asked them to,' Trump spokesman Jason Miller said Thursday. 'It's not something that we're part concerned by.' Miller said Trump enjoyed a 'pretty decisive victory' in the election. Since then, his spokesman said he's observed 'people coalescing around this new president and what he intends to do for the country.' He called the faithless elector effort and the recounts in three states 'shenanigans' and said it's 'time to look ahead.' One member of the electoral college claims he has received dozens of graphic death threats from people urging him to cast his vote for Hillary Clinton. Michael Banerian, a 22-year-old elector from Michigan, has received several 'aggressive' emails, some of which include 'talk about shoving a gun in my mouth and blowing my brains out', he told the Detroit News. Another email stated 'You're a hateful bigot, I hope you die', Banerian said. But the Republican college student said he has every intention of casting his vote for Donald Trump, who won the state's 16 electoral votes by a narrow margin of 10,704. Electors across the country have been barraged with phone calls and emails from voters urging them to become 'faithless electors,' too, on Dec. 19. Clinton won more than 2.6 million ballots in the popular vote than Trump. But it's the Electoral College that decides the presidential election. In most states, electors must cast a vote for the winner of the statewide popular vote or face fines ranging from around $500 to $1,000. Other states such as Arizona, Idaho, and Georgia don't have a rule against rogue electors. Michigan law mandates that a faithless elector's vote is void and Banerian remained resolute, anyway, saying: 'Even if I could, I wouldn't be remotely interested in changing my vote. 'The people of Michigan spoke, and it's our job to deliver that message,' he added. Unhappy citizens have also targeted other electors in states like Arizona, Idaho, and Georgia. 'It is total harassment,' Robert Graham, an elector and chairman of the state Republican Party, told the Arizona Republic. Arizona elector Saron Geise estimates that she has received as many as 8,000 calls and says she has stopped picking up altogether. Michael Baca, a registered Democrat who supported Bernie Sanders, is one of the Colorado Democrats coaxing Republican electors away from Trump. Even if he is unsuccessful in his efforts, Baca, who is not related to Polly Baca, said: 'I do think that a byproduct would be a serious look into Electoral College reform.' Their work became more difficult after Michigan's results came in. In winning the state, Trump widened his count by 16 Electoral College votes. Green Party candidate Jill Stein pushed for and won recounts in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. A judge has since halted the recount effort in Michigan, cementing Trump's win there. The recount was launched after a grassroots fundraising effort saw more than $6 million pour into Stein's account in a single week.
Andrea Pirlo has been checking out Chelsea in training this week — but Antonio Conte says his countryman's visit was just for pleasure, rather than business. Pirlo, 37, watched a session at Chelsea's Cobham training base on Friday to set tongues wagging about a potential role on Conte's coaching staff. The New York City playmaker is in London during the winter break from Major League Soccer and was pictured with fellow midfielder Cesc Fabregas. Conte is a close friend of the Italian pass master, with Pirlo crediting the Chelsea boss with his late-career form while they were at Juventus together. But Conte says Pirlo will be returning to New York to continue his American adventure, rather than jumping ship to Stamford Bridge to join his coaching staff or to play in an unlikely loan move. 'I'm pleased for this visit because Andrea was my player in Juventus for three years and we won together. I remember him as a great player,' Conte said. 'He played great football with Juventus in these three years. I'm very happy for his visit with his son here. We have a good relationship and I'm pleased for this. 'No (don't read anything into it) — Andrea came here only to visit. He has another year of contract in America, and he's playing and enjoying his football in America. 'He was here only to see, but he's still able to do a good training session himself.' Pirlo has heard plenty about Chelsea from former New York City team-mate Frank Lampard in the past year and took the opportunity to visit while in London on his holidays. He is expected to play another year in MLS before retiring, which could open up an opportunity to reunite with Conte in future.
Anthony Joshua restored some dignity to a big fight week in Manchester by shaking hands with his world heavyweight title challenger at the weigh in. That could not have been in more marked contrast to the disgraceful furniture throwing fiasco at the media conference sullied by Dereck Chisora and Dillian Whyte. Joshua and his Tex-Mex opponent Eric Molina showed proper respect for each other on the eve of their battle for the IBF belt. Joshua, at 17st 11lbs, hit the scales almost a stone heavier than Molina, who weigh 16st 13 and 3/4lbs. Amusingly, Joshua wore his sponsor's music headphones while Molina sported a black fur Snoopy hat. Asked about the big punching power which Molina sights as his only knockout hope of a huge upset, Joshua said: 'It will be block, parry, stay calm. No loading up with the punches just break him down. 'When it comes to the finish I like to give the fans what they want… blood, sweat and tears.' The heavyweight champion added: 'Little by little we're trying to make some history. Eric Molina is part of that journey. The odds are saying I'm the favourite but I don't see it like that. 'I've got to see Molina as a real challenger.'
Smartphone footage has caught the amazing moment that a man ran on to the tarmac at an airport and evaded police cars by dodging and weaving around them as they circled him. In a major security breach at San Francisco International (SFO), the man had dashed through traffic and leapt over a security fence before sprinting onto the tarmac. The man, thought to be under the influence of a substance, had been reported to security at Terminal One by concerned Southwest agents. The footage shows the man, moments after the foot chase, being circled by several police cars on the runway. He eventually hands himself in to be sent to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation. In the farcical clip, shared by CBS , the man, sporting a grey top, sprints past two passenger jets on the tarmac. He is followed by a much slower security officer on foot and four vehicles, which try to corral him by circling round him. The man moves fast, dodging the vehicles and the opening door of an SUV. Within a minute of the vehicles circling him the man slows down to a walk. Once he is surrounded the footage ends. Rather than being sent to jail, the man, who reportedly lay on the ground after the video clip ended, headed for psychiatric evaluation, according to CBS. Describing how the incident unfolded, SFO spokesman Doug Yakel told CBS: '[It] was a police response to an individual who appeared to be under the influence of a substance.' Witnesses at the scene described how the man, who been seated in terminal one with a beanie hat pulled over his eyes, was making 'jerking motions with his head'. Once security arrived he allegedly hurdled over the queue dividers and darted outside the building. Travellers claim they saw the man run through traffic and leap around 30ft from the upper level of the complex to the lower level before continuing on to the runway. A passenger, Dan Callies, commented to CBS: 'Who survives that kind of thing? Someone who's crazy. Someone who has no fear. Adrenaline kicks and gets you going.' Yakel said the incident was something the team could learn from and they will focus on 'continuous improvements' following the security breach. MailOnline has contacted San Francisco International Airport for further comment. In August, MailOnline reported on another security breach where a Bolivian national jumped off a bridge and ran on to the tarmac at Madrid's main international airport after mistakenly thinking he'd missed his Ryanair flight. The passenger was fined for the breach.
ATLANTA (AP) — The cries of trapped hotel guests screaming in agony are still seared into Richard Hamil's memory, seven decades after the Winecoff Hotel fire in Atlanta. The deadliest hotel fire in U. S. history killed 119 people 70 years ago this week and led to new fire safety standards for hotels and other public buildings. Now investigators are looking into violations of those and other standards in Oakland, California, where 36 people died at a Dec. 2 concert inside a warehouse. The Dec. 7, 1946, Atlanta fire came just months after 61 people were killed in a Chicago hotel fire and 19 others perished in a hotel blaze in Iowa. President Harry S. Truman responded by declaring war on "the growing menace of fire" and organizing a national fire safety conference.
His latest role in historical drama film Loving is getting Oscar buzz. And Joel Edgerton looked every inch the Hollywood heavyweight as he attended GQ's Men of the Year Party in Los Angeles on Thursday. The 42-year-old Australian actor cut a suave figure in a tailored suit, as he mingled with fellow actor James Marsden, 43. Joel was dressed to impress as he posed for snaps at the glamorous event. A round-neck navy shirt was teamed underneath a fitted double-breasted suit jacket. Coordinating with slim-fitting trousers in the same fabric, Joel finished off the look with grey suede dress shoes. While posing for photos at the exclusive bash, the Great Gatsby star also drew attention to a blemish-free complexion and a touch of product on his short locks. Joel was joined by other actors at the event including Anchorman's James and Casino Royale's Mads Mikkelsen. James looked dapper in a charcoal suit, teamed with a crisp light blue shirt with burgundy detailing that gave the illusion of a tie. A pair of brown lace-up dress shoes complemented the look. Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, 51, sported a patterned grey suit jacket and coordinating trousers. A black dress shirt with a button left undone was paired underneath, while patent lace-up shoes added an extra dimension. Guests at the lavish do, held at Chateau Marmont, were treated to a private dinner held by GQ and Dior Homme.
Cops in California have seized an abandoned boat carrying some 2,400 pounds of marijuana. The 25-foot boat Bayliner began to wash ashore about 3pm Monday at Calafia State Park near San Clemente. California State Parks rangers responded after passersby reported the abandoned vessel as it neared San Clemente, located between Los Angeles and San Diego. Federal agents and park rangers pulled the boat ashore — but found nobody on it or in its surrounding area. Inside, there was a plethora of large trash bags filled with packaged marijuana, according to officials at US Customs and Border Protection. There were at least 82 bundles containing 2,400 pounds — more than one ton of the drug — wrapped in cellophane. A picture released by the border protection agency shows the vessel resting on the sand, a number of trash bags on its deck. Officials said the marijuana had been stashed on the boat's deck and under its bow.
A husband rang police and confessed to murdering his wife shortly before he killed himself in a car crash. The couple were named by neighbours as Nigel Ordinans, 63, and his wife Linda, 61. Detectives were alerted when Mr Ordinans called Kent Police telling them his wife's body was at their home on Mill Green, in Wolverhampton, West Mids. A short time later he was found dead following a single vehicle car crash more than 200 miles away in Dover. West Midlands Police then found Mrs Ordinans' body in the early hours on Thursday at their £200,000 three-bedroom detached home. Neighbour Leslie Whitehouse, 78, who lives four doors down from the couple, said: 'The couple have lived in the street for more than 30 years. 'They were always quite pleasant but private. They kept themselves to themselves. I don't think they had children. 'I would often see Nigel walking his two Rottweilers past my house. I often chatted to him and he seemed perfectly nice. I think he'd retired. 'There was lots of police activity at their house yesterday. 'The police visited us yesterday and reassured us that there had been an incident but they were not looking for anyone else and it was confined to that household. 'It is shocking to think a murder happened so close to where we live. We generally say hello to each other and try and look out for one another on this road. 'It's tragic, especially so close to Christmas but goes to show you never really know what happens behind closed doors.' Detective Inspector Warren Hines of West Midlands Police said: 'We are in the early stages of our investigation but it seems that the man has killed his wife before taking his own life. 'We are not looking for anyone else at present in connection with either death.' Kent Police said Mr Ordinans was found in a car on its side in the remote Upper Road area of Dover after midnight on Thursday. Force spokesman Martin Very said: 'Kent Police received a call concerned for the welfare of a man in the Upper Road area of Dover at 12.07am. 'Officers attended the location and a man was located deceased inside a vehicle. Officers are conducting enquiries into the circumstances. We can now confirm that the death is not being treated as suspicious.' To contact the Samaritans, call 116 123 or visit their website
Harrowing new details have emerged in the abuse case involving seven special-needs children who were rescued from a Texas home last month, including tales of brutal whippings, a desperate escape attempt and the revelation that a disabled 7-year-old boy died in that household in 2011. Paula Sinclair, 54, and her boyfriend, 78-year-old Allen Richardson, of Richmond, were arrested on charges of injury to a child and aggravated kidnapping a day before Thanksgiving after five boys and two girls, ranging in age from 13 to 16, were removed from the couple's home by Child Protective Services caseworkers acting on a tip. The children were reportedly found starving, suffering from injuries, covered in bed bug bites and living in a locked, urine-soaked bedroom. Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls said the conditions inside the bedroom that the seven siblings shared were 'not suitable for even animals,' with black mold on the walls and vermin, including rodents, cockroaches and bed bugs, everywhere. The Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office issued a news release Thursday revealing that deputies visited the home in 2011 after the death of 7-year-old Jaden Sinclair. Scroll down for video Following an investigation, a justice of the peace ruled the child died of natural causes. The statement says the case is not being reopened. Jaden had cerebral palsy, was blind and bedridden, couldn't speak and ate through a feeding tube. He passed away in Richardson's home before he could be transported to a hospital, reported the station KPRC. Newly released court documents in the case shed light on the brutal treatment the seven surviving children had allegedly endured at the hands of their adoptive mother and her older boyfriend. According to reporting by the station KHOU 11 , detectives said the children told them Richardson, known in the house as 'Coach,' would whip them with a board and Paula Sinclair, whom the children called 'Mom,' would egg him on. According to the children's statements, the beatings left marks and bruises on their bodies that sometimes would bleed. The couple also allegedly deprived the children of food as a method of punishment for misbehavior. The court filings also alleged that on one occasion, the children were changing the diaper of a sibling suffering from Down syndrome and were encouraged by one of the adults to clean the child's privates with bleach. In another heart-breaking revelation, one of the children told a case worker that when they were restrained and locked up in a closet, some of them would cry and they would talk about the future 'so they wouldn't have to think about the pain.' According to a written statement by a case worker, one time the children attempted to escape the house by ripping the screen out of the bathroom window, but Richardson and Sinclair caught them, resulting in a beating. On April 16, a Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office deputy conducted a welfare check at the address on Falcon Creek Court after receiving a tip. Paula Sinclair told deputies the children all lived in a room upstairs and that she home-schooled them. She also said the children were well-fed and lived upstairs because she had four adult clients who also lived in the first story of the home as part of an assisted living program. One of the siblings told the deputy they were mistreated and wanted to leave the home and had backpacks ready to go to their father's house. The deputy observed there was food cooking and the children did not appear to be underfed, though their bedding and clothes seemed to be old. The deputy conducting the visit summarized his call and sent the summary to CPS. According to investigators, Sinclair and Richardson locked up the children in a cramped 5-by-8 feet storage room cluttered with boxes and clothes whenever they would leave the house, reported the station KPRC. Investigators say the teens, among them one suffering from Down syndrome, were sometimes left inside the closet for so long they urinated on themselves. When the adults were home, the kids stayed in a small bedroom strewn with garbage, which was locked with a deadbolt, according to officials. One of the youngsters was reportedly observed by CPS officials wearing a soiled diaper. Conditions inside other areas of the house were described by investigators as equally deplorable, with rooms reeking of urine and feces. The young victims were described by deputes as malnourished and dressed in 'shabby' clothing. According to officials, Paula Sinclair would discipline the children by striking them with a wooden paddle, causing injuries. All the teens in Sinlciar and Richardson's care had learning disabilities and none of them ever attended school; neighbors said they did not even know there were children living in Richardson's two-story home in the 21000 block of Falcon Creek Court. 'I cannot think of a more deplorable situation than what we have learned in this case,' Sheriff Nehls said in a news release. 'These people are taking advantage of a lousy situation at the expense of children who cannot fend for themselves. It is absolutely heart-breaking.' Besides the seven children, there were also three disabled men living in the house. The grownups were kept on the first floor of the house, while the children lived on the second floor, and they were not allowed to speak to one another. Adult resident David Willard described Sinclair's group home as a 'frigging, blanking prison.' According to Willard, the children were fed rice and beans three times a day and took all their meals in their bedroom. Paula Sinclair and her ex-husband, Larry, had adopted eight children between 2003 and 2004. The couple divorced in 2010 and Larry Sinclair is not facing any charges in connection to the case. Following their rescue from the Richmond home last month, Sinclair's seven surviving children were taken to a hospital for treatment and were later placed in foster care. Meanwhile, Sinclair and Richardson were being held without bail at the Fort Bend County Jail on felony charges of aggravated kidnapping and child abuse causing an injury.
A squadron of state-of-the-art fighter jets have been deployed to a Russian air base less than 200km from the border with Finland. Four Sukhoi Su-35S jets, described by Russia's defence ministry as 'super-maneuverable' have landed at the base in Karelia. Capable of supersonic speeds, the jets - the best fighter planes in the Russian fleet - are able to carry guided 'air-to-air' class missiles, as well as anti-submarine missiles and guided aerial bombs. They are also armed with cannons which can fire 1,500 rounds per minute, the Russian Ministry of Defence states, and are well equipped for dodging missiles. Video showed the jets arriving at the base today, where they are being made available to be deployed. Kremlin officials say the planes will help protect Russia's northwestern frontier, RT reports. Last month Finland's defence minister said officials hope military activity in the Baltic Sea can 'calm down' after Russian missiles were deployed in Kaliningrad. Jussi Niinisto said: 'We naturally support peaceful co-existence. And we practice an active policy of stability.' And he added: 'We'd like to see the military situation calm down in the Baltic Sea, rather than escalate.'
A never-before-seen prison letter sent by the man who murdered Beatles legend John Lennon have been unearthed by DailyMail.com. Lennon was shot four times in cold blood outside his apartment building in New York City on December 8, 1980 in a murder that shocked the world. The killer, religious fanatic Mark David Chapman, has been paying the price ever since, languishing behind bars in a New York correctional facility. And on the 36th anniversary of Lennon's death DailyMail.com can reveal for the first time the contents of a letter Chapman sent to his father that went unopened for three decades. Chapman's dad David Curtis Chapman was so sickened by the notorious crime he could never bear to open the note dated April 24, 1988. The letter was filed away and only opened years later after his death. Showing no remorse for the slaying of Lennon seven years earlier shamed killer Chapman boasts of his cushy time in prison, writing: 'I never knew there were so many good things to do in here!' Adding: 'I am doing fine and doing well. I am keeping busy and reading, etc.' He also brags about being allowed conjugal visits from wife Gloria inside New York's maximum security Attica Prison but is clearly paranoid of the news being leaked. Chapman writes: 'I have some good news. Gloria and I are to be granted conjugal visits this fall. I am really happy about this.' Clearly worried, he says to his dad: 'If I may ask this, please keep this between us. I want to keep it very secret right now, for any "leak" would be bad.' The letter emerges as DailyMail.com has learned Chapman's own family has disowned him after all these years and they have no intention of supporting his application for parole. Chapman has been roundly blamed for the death of his grief-stricken father David. And his relatives have finally turned their back on the man who showed no remorse for the crime that shocked the world. Chapman, 61, will next be eligible for parole in August 2018, but his family say they don't want him to ever be released. He has been denied parole nine times, and each time he has been eligible Lennon's widow Yoko Ono has campaigned to keep him behind bars. Chapman, then 25, fired four bullets into Lennon's back at point blank range. Now, 36 years into his 20-years-to-life sentence, the killer's only regular visitor to the Wende Correctional Facility in New York where he is caged is his devoted wife, Gloria. Occasionally, the inmate calls his younger sister, Susan, but has had no contact with any other member of his family. The only other person he communicates with is the prison pastor. Already a pariah among other inmates within the prison, it's a lonely existence for Chapman. Reathy Bretler, who was married to Chapman's father, David, when he passed away in 1995, told DailyMail.com: 'I don't want anything to do with Mark. I would like him out of my life.' Chapman's step-sister Linda Walker, 61, revealed how the killer's own father was so ashamed of his crime he stopped reading letters sent from his son behind bars and refused to go to see him. Linda, daughter of Reathy, said: 'David stopped opening the letters Mark sent from prison, he couldn't face the pain of it anymore. 'His father had strokes because of Mark, the stress of his son being a monster caused his illness. Mark killed him, that's on him.' Reathy, 81, describes her late husband as 'the love of my life up to his death' and says she treated Chapman like her own son. Despite money being tight she would send regular checks of $20 to him in prison and in return for her generosity she'd receive the occasional typewritten note. Linda added: 'Mark was a grown man when he committed this crime. 'It falls only on him. Mark's got to be the most hated person in the world. 'He was a handsome young man, it's too bad he turned into a freaking killer.' Reathy also shared with DailyMail.com never-before-seen photos of Chapman as he serenades Gloria with a guitar in prison in a chilling echo of Lennon's legacy. In the photos from August 1991 that were sent to his dad, he protectively clutches Gloria – who bares an uncanny resemblance to Lennon's widow Yoko - around the stomach. He maintains physical contact with his wife in all nine images of the montage sent to Chapman's father titled 'Welcome to our home.' Gloria is seen smiling while perched on Chapman's lap as they embrace on a single bed where they would later have sex. Chapman has since transferred to Wende Correctional Facility in upstate New York and still has these overnight marital privileges. When previously asked what she and Chapman - both devout Christians - do during their rare reunions Gloria said: 'We make a homemade pizza. There is a TV and we'll watch Wheel of Fortune. 'He can get DVDs but he hasn't done that in a long time. It's very limited to what we can do there's a fence really close but around the twilight time we like to sit outside, last time we looked through a fence and saw inmates playing baseball.' Chapman met Gloria in March 1978. She was 26, and working as a travel agent at the time while Chapman, 22, found work at Castle Medical Center in Oahu, Hawaii. A year later they tied the knot – but 18 months into their marriage Chapman, who suffered mental issues and was suicidal, killed his idol. They've been married ever since and Gloria credits the Bible for her decision not to divorce him. In more never-before-seen family photos, Chapman is seen under a Christmas tree in 1972, eight years before the murder. The festive images developed from their original slides casts a haunting comparison to Lennon's hit Happy Xmas (War Is Over). Other candid pictures show him posing with a guitar in his teenage years showing his obsession with music and, in particular, Lennon. As a toddler, his father David introduced him to instruments and later taught him guitar on Boy Scout camping trips. In more of Chapman's letters, which were hand signed from prison, his dark sense of humor is laid bare in a birthday card to his father in 1993 where he enclosed a cartoon strip, which makes a joke about escaping from prison. Around this time Chapman was struck down with an unknown illness, forcing his mother Diane Pease, who has since died, to plead with his father to fix their broken relationship. She wrote on two post-it notes: 'Please find it in your heart to have a good relationship with [Mark]. It will benefit both of you in time. He needs you and I think your life will be enriched if you start to heal the breach.' The trove of images show Mark from the year he was born in 1955 until his late-teens. His late parents proudly snapped photos on family holidays unaware of the harrowing future that lay ahead. In among the images, Chapman sings onstage with a band as a child, around 15 years before he killed Lennon. In another, he plays piano as a toddler, posing at the piano like a younger version of his idol when the Beatle was famously filmed performing his peace anthem, Imagine. Another photo shows the future killer as a four-year-old on the bonnet of a 1950s Shelby family motor. He is also pictured as a boy scout on a camping trip with his father. Other family photos include a rare flashback of Chapman at home with his late parents, mother Diane Pease, father David Curtis Chapman and sister Susan, who is seven years his junior. He also poses proudly in his graduation gown at Colombia High School, Georgia. Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison in 1981. 'I am sorry for causing that type of pain,' Chapman told a recent parole board hearing. 'I am sorry for being such an idiot and choosing the wrong way for glory.'
A group of Australian skydivers have smashed a national record after 32 of them jumped out of a plane and created a breathtaking snowflake formation. The brave team hurled themselves out of two planes 17,500ft over Nagambie, Victoria, on Friday. Their aim was to break the Australian sequential record for large formation diving - creating two formations before opening their parachutes - and they did it in style. Awe-inspiring footage filmed from above shows the crew leaping out of two planes, with four of the team already hanging onto one another, creating a small formation. The other 28 skydivers soar alongside them, linking up as they plummet at speeds of almost 200km/h. The Australian team pulled it off, breaking apart and opening their chutes before making a graceful landing. Their American coach, Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld, said the dive was 'beautiful'. 'You could fell the energy in the airplane on that one,' he said. 'Everyone was really focused, ready to go, trying to stay calm and cool and very confident and very excited. 'The exit came off great out of the lead plane. The whole thing was flying smooth the whole time. 'We had a nice little hole in the clouds to come through so it was a terrific jump.' Team captain Greg Jack told The Age that the jump was anything but simple. 'It's a pretty intense, pretty complex series of drills and procedures. If it goes right, it's fantastic,' he said. 'We come from all walks of life. We've got people in their early 20s right through to 70-year-olds, and our experience ranges from 120 to 130 jumps, to people with thousands of jumps.' The group's next mission is to take on a whopping 150-person formation over California in 2019. The world record, set last year, saw 202 people form a lattice.
NEW YORK (AP) — The latest on developments in financial markets (All times local): 9:35 a.m. Stocks are opening moderately higher on Wall Street, keeping major indexes at record high levels Health care and technology stocks rose more than the rest of the market in early trading Friday. Pfizer and Apple each rose 1 percent. Coca-Cola rose 1.6 percent, the most in the Dow Jones industrial average, after saying its CEO Muhtar Kent would step down next year and be replaced by James Quincey, the company's chief operating officer. Broadcom, a chipmaker, jumped 5 percent after reporting better earnings and doubling its dividend. The Dow rose 18 points, or 0.1 percent, to 19,632. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 4 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,250. The Nasdaq composite gained 24points, or 0.5 percent, to 5,440.
C oming home after a long spell abroad can be a surprise. Returning to London last month after nearly four years as the Guardian's Washington bureau chief felt like escaping from a frying pan into the fire.
Fortunately, editors in London cushioned the landing by asking me to follow one story almost as wild as watching the election of Donald Trump: covering Britain's efforts to leave the European Union .
Many experienced Guardian colleagues have already been charting this seismic upheaval for months, helping make sense of a referendum that looked particularly baffling from 3,000 miles away.
But my new job as Brexit policy editor is one of two additional roles intended to complement the expertise of our political and business teams and European specialists by looking holistically at the consequences of this historic decision.
Together with Lisa O'Carroll, who is our newly-appointed Brexit correspondent, we hope to help join the dots between what politicians are saying in London and Brussels; particularly by looking at what their decisions mean in the real world.
As an Irish citizen living in London, Lisa has a particular interested in the fate of EU nationals based here. She is also keen to explore the potential consequences of Brexit on local and business communities across the country, particularly outside London and will be working with our regional correspondents to ensure those outside the Westminster bubble are heard. Do get in touch at lisa.ocarroll@theguardian.com
For me, Britain already feels a very different country to the one I left. From the relative stability of Barack Obama's America I watched a general election, a Scottish referendum and an EU vote that defied expectations and rewrote the rules of British politics in my absence. As Labour MP Chuka Umunna reminded me at a briefing on Wednesday: "We are a united kingdom in name only".
But two years on the campaign trail covering the US presidential election was useful preparation too. Just as memories of the Brexit earthquake helped warn of the potential for similar anti-establishment upset in the US, I hope all that time spent talking to Trump supporters and travelling the backroads of the American rustbelt may provide some fresh perspective on the mood back here in the UK.
Just a few days into the job, it is clear this is still going to be steep learning curve. But the beauty of any new job is the excuse to pose dumb questions. A week or two of asking people to square the statements of politicians in London with those of their counterparts across the channel is reassuring only in making me realise there are currently many dumb answers out there too.
Short of an upset even bigger than the referendum result, Brexit is happening – though this week's Commons vote perhaps marks the end of the "phoney war" phase – and over the next two or three years of attempted implementation things are going to get very real, very quickly.
My background in financial journalism, both as Guardian business editor and the industrial editor of the Financial Times, gives me a particular interest in the trade and economic consequences of leaving the single market. I have also worked at the other end of political spectrum on this question, as deputy editor of the Sunday Telegraph, and I remember well the genuine passions ignited by Europe on both sides of the debate.
Research by the National Centre for Social Research published this week found that the Guardian had by far the most united readership on this vexed national question. Even the Sun, at the opposite end of the media, saw only 70% of its regular readers vote leave, while just 9% of Guardian readers did so. Despite the confident bluster of many Eurosceptic papers, all had ambivalent readerships.
It feels important, however, that covering Brexit for the Guardian does not become an oxymoron. We need to be more than just a voice of the "bremoaners", as this nonetheless sizeable demographic is dismissively nicknamed. The polling research suggests our readers backed remain because they are informed and outward-looking. My guess is they want to stay that way.
For me personally, this means learning another lesson from covering Trump's election : the importance of getting out on the road and listening to people as well as politicians. Last time I came home from America – after two and half years in New York for the FT – I was reminded how much more like each other London and the Big Apple are than the rest of their countries. This time, I hope to get out of the metropolitan bubble as much as possible and back to areas such as the West Midlands and Yorkshire, where I started out in regional newspapers.
It is easy to overstate the similarities between Trump's election and the continued strong support for Brexit that there seems to be in Britain. Whatever one might think of Theresa May, she has not yet packed her cabinet with a junta of former generals or called for a wall to be erected at the mouth of the channel tunnel.
But there is a common problem for journalists. How do we give voice to all those who did not vote for this, while understanding the motives of those who did? It is, I hope, a challenge the Guardian is well-placed to take on.
Airlines could let passengers make in-flight phone calls using Wi-Fi under a proposal from federal regulators. Flight attendants and others, however, have complained that the calls could be disruptive and trigger more air rage incidents between passengers. But the US Department of Transportation (DOT) said that it envisioned allowing the calls if airlines tell all customers about the policy when they buy their tickets. With this warning in place, customers could make other travel arrangements if they feared sitting next to passengers chatting on their phones. There is a 60-day comment period, and the proposal leaves the door open to the possibility that federal officials could still impose an outright ban. The Federal Communications Commission prohibits passengers from making cellphone calls during flights, but not Wi-Fi calls. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement: '[The] proposal will ensure that air travellers are not unwillingly exposed to voice calls, as many of them are troubled over the idea of passengers talking on cell phones in flight.' In 2014, the department issued a request for public comments on the possibility of permitting the calls and the response was overwhelmingly negative. Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said anything short of a ban on calls is 'reckless'. Flight attendants have commented previously that they fear the calls could lead to fights between passengers who want to make calls and passengers who don't want to listen to the conversations. Nelson said: 'It threatens aviation security and increases the likelihood of conflict in the skies. It threatens safety for crews and passengers.' However, the U. S. airlines' trade group opposes a government ban on in-flight calls. A spokeswoman for Airlines for America, Kathy Grannis Allen, said: 'We have long held that this was not a matter for DOT to regulate, and we believe airlines should be able to determine what services can be safely offered in-flight and make those decisions based on what is in the best interests of their passengers and crew members.' Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines said they have no plans to allow voice calls. Southwest spokesman Brian Parrish explained: 'Our customers have expressed concerns regarding the potentially disruptive nature of in-flight voice calls.' Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said the carrier surveyed passengers a few years ago and got 'a strong reaction' that they didn't want calls. A Delta Air Lines spokeswoman noted that the carrier has opposed voice calls for several years. United Airlines said it was reviewing the proposal and would listen to the views of customers and employees. American referred questions to the trade group. JetBlue did not have an immediate comment.
Exports have surged to a record high and helped to narrow Britain's trade gap more sharply than expected. The deficit in trade of goods was reined in by £4.1 billion in October - down from £13.8 billion the previous month. Exports were up £2.1billion to £26.8 billion, while imports fell £2billion to £36.5 billion. Goods traded outside of the EU turned in a particularly strong performance - jumping to a new high of £14.4 billion. The figures, produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), will make welcome reading in Downing Street. Theresa May has made boosting trade a key part of her Brexit strategy. This week she was in the Gulf working to seal deals worth £30billion. The government hopes the slump in the value of the Pound since the Brexit vote will benefit exporters. It could also suppress demand for imports by driving up prices. The Bank of England predicts inflation will nearly treble over the next two years, shooting up to 2.7% for 2017 and 2018. Including the powerhouse services sector, the UK's trade gap narrowed by £3.8billion to £2billion in October - with exports increasing by £2billion and imports falling £1.8billion. Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: 'The total trade deficit narrowed substantially to a five-month low of £2billion in October after widening to £5.8 billion in September from £5.4 billion in August and £3.6 billion in July. 'Exports likely increasingly benefited in October from the weakened pound lifting foreign demand for UK good and services. 'The hope for the UK economy going forward is that the substantial overall weakening of the pound since the UK voted to leave the European Union in June's referendum will increasingly feed through to boost foreign demand for UK goods and services. 'This is all the more important given the weakening prospects for domestic demand due to likely deteriorating consumer fundamentals and increased uncertainty when the UK starts the Brexit process by triggering Article 50.' He said the narrowing of the trade deficit and October's 4.6% monthly rise in exports raised hopes that net trade will boost gross domestic product (GDP) in the fourth quarter. ONS Statistician Hannah Finselbach said there was 'limited evidence' that the plunge in the value of the pound following the Brexit vote had led to a marked increase in UK exports. Despite shrinking month-on-month, the total trade deficit in goods and services widened by £4.7billion to £13.2billion in the three months to October, as exports rose by £1.6 billion, but imports climbed by £7.7 billion. The trade update comes after ONS figures showed that output in Britain's manufacturing sector unexpectedly slumped 0.9 per cent in October, as a sharp drop in pharmaceutical production dragged on the industry, Industrial production also came in below expectations, dropping for the third month on the bounce to a decline of 1.3 per cent in October in contrast to September. Britain's construction industry also defied predictions in October, with output falling 0.6 per cent month on month, compared with economist estimates of a 0.3 per cent rise.
Anyone can identify famous current footballers from a photograph. But can you name footballers who retired years ago from a photograph of what they look like now? All of the footballers in our quiz are well known, some of them more than others. But it's been many years since many of them were jogging around a football pitch at the top of their physical prowess. And as many of us are already discovering, age has a habit of catching up with us and changing our appearance. This week's quiz has a list of 20 pictures, each with four possible answers. And your task is simple, identify which ex-footballer the recent photograph is of. If you're unable to see the quiz in the MailOnline app or in Facebook Instant Articles please click on the following link to view it on our website instead.
NEW YORK (AP) — As a girl, Tracy Reese thought she might be an architect. Then she caught the fashion bug. She knew, of course, that designers who are black like her existed. She used to snap up Willi Smith at The Limited growing up in Detroit. She headed to New York with high hopes. "When I first came to New York my eyes were really opened to the breadth of the industry, but I was looking for our place in it," recalled Reese, who has dressed first lady Michelle Obama. Reese, along with other noted designers of color, Jeffrey Banks and Laura Smalls among them, spoke at the opening Tuesday of a new exhibition, "Black Fashion Designers," at The Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology. Running through May 16, the show offers a glimpse into exactly how impactful designers of color have been through the decades, including Reese, Banks and Smalls. Smalls has seen her dresses worn seven times by the departing Obama. They also know the challenges of striving for beauty in design while attempting to break through in an industry still dominated by whites. "Designers of color don't get a lot of publicity and so many of the businesses are not sizable. It's tough to get recognition," Reese said, standing amid rows of mannequins spanning decades of diverse black voices in fashion. Reese's father provided initial startup money when she first went into business for herself. "I had to go out and get loans. I did a lot of paper writing. A lot of business planning. I had to have a lot of assistance because I didn't have business training," she said. "That's usually what a banker wants to see, or a financial person. It's a kind of closed industry. And as difficult as it is for a person of color, you really have to rise through the ranks high enough to grab the attention of the people who are holding the purse strings. " Smalls, who grew up in Queens, knew at 8 or 9 that she wanted to be a fashion designer. She went to the High School of Art and Design, followed by Parsons School of Design. "When I graduated Parsons, being African-American, it was not easy for me to get a job. It was just not easy. I couldn't fathom that I would be able to support myself with my own collection. They don't say anything. I mean, you know. It's just you don't get the job. I could tell you a horrible story, but I won't," said Smalls, who worked in relative obscurity until 2012, when Obama first wore some of her pieces. Banks, at 63 the oldest of the three, has focused on menswear over his decades in the business, adding home decor and childrenswear in more recent years selling on HSN. "I was very lucky in that I met Ralph Lauren when I was 16. I started working for him when I was 17, three weeks out of high school and two months before I started college. " Even so, it wasn't easy. "I remember when I was 10 years old and talking to a former nursery school teacher and telling her that I wanted to be a fashion designer and she said, 'Well whoever heard of a black fashion designer,' and she was black," said Banks, who was raised in Washington, D. C. "I was so angry, even at 10 years old, to think why would someone say something like that? Why should that be an impediment to anything? I think it made me even more determined to become a designer," he said. Banks looked to those who came before him, but his eye was on the beauty of their creations, not necessarily their skin color. "Growing up, Stephen Burrows, when I was in high school, he was just starting to design and I thought his designs were extraordinary, and that was way before I knew he was black," Banks said. "I just thought they were great looking clothes. At the end of the day that's really what counts. " Jacqueline Bouvier must have thought so, too. In 1953, she wore an ivory silk taffeta gown to marry the young Sen. John F. Kennedy. It was designed by Ann Lowe, already a noted dressmaker for high society patrons in New York. Lowe was also the great-granddaughter of an enslaved woman and an Alabama plantation owner. She learned to sew at the knees of her mother and grandmother. "Yet she embraced all of the beauty of European couture," said Andre Leon Talley, the former editor-at-large for Vogue who remains a fashion pundit and served on the show's advisory committee. The exhibition is intended as a sampling, not an all-consuming account of black contributions to fashion, but it does offer a wide range, from a modest ivory wedding gown by Lowe (not Jackie's) to a risque royal blue satin Playboy bunny uniform by Zelda Wynn Valdes. Among others represented: Pyer Moss, Duro Olowu, Kevan Hall, Andre Walker, Lawrence Steele and Patrick Kelly. And the legacy? "The legacy is perseverance, and of struggling through many decades of culture," Talley said. "Struggling black individualism. Struggling in a country that perhaps did not recognize black people as designers. You have a rainbow of success based on innate quality and innate technique. They had dreams, and they put their dreams into fashion. "
A man who calls himself 'The Chicken Connoisseur' has caused a storm on social media after posting video reviews of fried chicken restaurants.
The fast-food critique has visited various joints around London, giving a score out of five for different meals on the menu.
His humorous reviews called ' The Pengest Munch ' have attracted a legion of fans with thousands following him on Twitter, eagerly watching him dissect the crunch of fries and the texture of chicken .
A man who calls himself the Chicken Connoisseur has caused a storm on social media after posting video reviews of fried chicken restaurants
The Chicken Connoisseur rates wings and burgers for seasoning, texture and size
The Chicken Connoisseur has posted six reviews so far, visiting restaurants in Edgware Road, Tottenham, Tufnell Park, Waterloo, Finsbury Park and Old Street.
While he has been filming and posting since September last year, it appears that his latest video - reviewing Chick King in Tottenham, north London - has kicked off a surge in his popularity.
During the visit we see our expert pay £6.40 for four wings, chips, a fillet burger and a can of Lilt.
First critiquing the fries, he says that while his portion was large, they were 'nothing special' and gave them a disappointing 3/5.
The wings did not fair any better.
He described them as: 'Fairly fresh, they fell off the bone quite well, they were well cooked and quite succulent.
The Chicken Connoisseur visits fast food restaurants across London and marks meals out of five for flavour and price
So far the fast-food expert has made six different reviews and here he is seen tucking into a wing after visiting Chick King in Tottenham, north London
During his latest review, he critiques four wings, a fillet burger and fries - which he gave just a 3.5/5 rating
'Going into actual flavour, weak. There was a bit of cayenne, maybe on or two little bits of black pepper and they had a little bit of heat, slightly. That was about it.
'The best thing about them was the texture, because they were different. They actually had breadcrumbs on them. They were rolled in breadcrumbs.
'For that I'd say 3.5. But again they're not far past mediocre.'
It appears that his latest video - reviewing Chick King in Tottenham, north London - has kicked off a surge in his popularity
Our esteemed chicken expert was not impressed with Chick King wings and he said their flavour was 'weak'
Wrapping up his review of Chick King, the Chicken Connoisseur said: 'If you come here expecting the great munch - you're an idiot'
While falling short of a kitchen nightmare, it certainly was not a good day in the office for Chick King - because our esteemed reviewer was not impressed with his fillet burger either.
He said: 'The burger was not peng at all, it was just hench. I spent more time chewing and focusing on that I didn't choke.
'The flavour was dead. I couldn't taste any flavours in there, maybe salt maximum. Out of five, 3.5.'
Wrapping up his review, he said: ' It was very underwhelming. Overall a 3.5. If you come here expecting the great munch - you're an idiot.'
When Seattle raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour, the right predicted an economic disaster for the city. The predictions were entirely in line with what Republican policymakers say anytime the subject comes up anywhere: raising the cost of labor will lead employers to hire fewer workers, which has the effect of pushing unemployment higher. Bloomberg View's Barry Ritholtz published a piece this week taking a look at how those predictions are holding up in Seattle's case study.
As one of my colleagues wrote last week, the "unemployment rate in the city of Seattle – the tip of the spear when it comes to minimum wage experiments – has now hit a new cycle low of 3.4%." Meanwhile, a University of Washington study on the minimum wage law found little or no evidence of job losses or business closings. Although you can never declare a game over until the final whistle, this experiment is starting to look like a rout.
In June 2014, local officials approved the $15 minimum wage, to be phased in over several years, and at the time, the city's unemployment rate was 5.4%. The law first took effect in April 2015, when Seattle's unemployment rate was 4.3%. As of last month, after the wage hike, the city's unemployment rate was down to 3.4%. There are a couple of relevant caveats to keep in mind. For one thing, Seattle's minimum wage has gone up each of the last two years, but it's not yet at $15 an hour. Depending on the size of the business, it's currently between $10.50 and $13 – well above the federal floor, but not yet at its destination. For another, local economies can vary quite a bit for all sorts of reasons, and Seattle's successes may or may not be easily duplicated elsewhere. But in this experiment, the right's predictions were plainly wrong. The question then becomes what conservatives will learn from this case study. The short answer is, almost certainly nothing. The prospect of an increase in the federal minimum wage disappeared when Americans elected a far-right Congress to work with a far-right president, who wants a far-right Labor Secretary who opposes any changes to the current minimum. In Ohio, meanwhile, the Republican-led state government is moving forward with plans to block any city within the state from raising its own local minimum wage, regardless of the cities' wishes.
The obscure tariff orders clubs and cafes to pay €0.40 (about $0.42) for each person "assisting or participating at habitual dancing venues. "
Although the law dates back to the 1950s, it was rarely imposed and re-introduced two years ago. However, it was only recently that the municipality began imposing it on establishments.
"At first I thought it was a joke," said Nicolas Bucci, artistic director of Bonnefooi cafe, a venue in central Brussels which regularly hosts DJs and live music acts.
He added: "Then they estimated that we have about 100 habitual dancers per week, and gave us the bill ... They said if we didn't accept their estimate, we had to calculate the number of dancers per night by ourselves and give them the data. "
Bucci, who estimates his annual fee would be around €2,000 (about $2,120), says he would prefer putting that figure towards booking performers and questions the nature of the levy.
"What is a dancer? " said Bucci, adding "Is throwing your arms in the air dancing? That's an absurd way to calculate a tax. "
But the city's financial department, which oversees the tax, says that these venues require extra expenses to cover "safety, public peace and public order. "
"We can always dance in Brussels," finance alderman Philippe Close wrote in a Facebook post, adding that "No one is supposed to ignore the law. "
Wafaa Hammich, a spokesperson for Close, told CNN: "It wouldn't make a difference if the patrons don't dance -- it applies to places that have regular dance parties. "
"The city of Brussels has been levying this tax since the 1950s and every establishment has to pay. We don't allow Bonnefooi to be different," she said.
"We had a very nice contact with (Bonnefooi), and they understood what the tax is. "
A total of 40 clubs are paying an average of €160 ($170) per month, Hammich added.
After the visit from city inspectors, Bucci put up a sign in the club to jokingly warn that dancing was "forbidden. " He then took to Facebook to ask his patrons what they thought.
Similar signs appeared in US nightclubs in 1944, when a wartime " cabaret tax " imposed a 30% levy on venues that allowed dancing. It was later reduced to 10% and eventually scrapped in 1965.
The club isn't refusing to pay, according to Bucci, instead he wants to spark a conversation about the practice.
"This approach treats nightlife as a burden," he said. "The debate was focused only on the tax, but we wanted to make the point that the administration lacks vision for Brussels' nightlife, which is an asset for the city.
"These measures could reduce the availability of events in the city by limiting a club's ability to pay artists' fees, but the administration said they'll meet us for further discussion. "
Fears that drones could cause a major air accident have been reignited after two more near-misses in London and Manchester , with one drone passing over the wing of a passenger jet.
Investigators said a drone about 2ft (60cm) wide had just missed the right wing of a Boeing 767 that was coming in to land at Manchester airport.
While the pilot was uncertain about what he had seen passing about six metres from the plane, investigators said his report, along with radar images and video recordings, meant that the object was most probably a drone with a camera.
They said the drone operator, who could not be traced, had "recklessly endangered" the plane in the incident on 20 July.
In another incident classed as high risk two weeks later, a drone the size of a football was as close as 20 metres to a passenger jet as it circledabove south-east London on its way to Heathrow.
The Airbus A320's first officer shouted: "Look", as the drone, which had a flashing magenta light, passed close to the plane at around 11,000ft (3,350 metres).
Air traffic control was immediately alerted to the incident, which occurred on 4 August. Details were passed to the Metropolitan police but the drone operator could not be traced. A collision "had only been narrowly avoided" and chance had played a "major part", the report noted.
The UK Airprox Board, an air safety body, said a minority of drone operators were continuing to "flagrantly disregarding regulation and common sense" to film "ever more spectacular video footage".
Flight crews are rarely able to take any action to avoid potential collision with drones on a visual sighting.
Civil Aviation Authority rules also state that drones should not be flown above 400ft.
Pilots have called for urgent action to address the risks to passenger aircraft from drones, after a spate of near-misses. Balpa, the pilots union, has pressed for better education on drone operation, as well as compulsory registration of drones and more high-profile prosecutions of offenders.
The union has also called for "geo-fencing" to be used for all drones, fitting them with technology that would stop them being flown in prohibited airspace.
It also has called for testing to establish what the possible effect of a drone striking an engine. Similar tests are done with frozen birds at engine manufacturers. Pilots fear that the shrapnel from a collision between an engine and a drone could cause catastrophic damage to other parts of the plane.
The South Sydney Rabbitohs star married his bikini model sweetheart just a week ago. And as George Burgess and Joanna King finish up their holiday in Byron Bay, the rugby league player took a moment to gush over his blushing bride. In a post shared with his 158,000 Instagram followers, he thanked those who were there on the day and those who weren't. 'What an unbelievable day it was last Saturday getting married to my queen @joanna.m.burgess,' he wrote. 'It was everything we could have imagined. Thanks to everyone who was a part of our special day, and those who were there in spirit.' The couple were married in a small ceremony in Noosa last Saturday, in the presence of family and friends. According to the wedding photographer, the pair tied the knot outdoors, under an 'ancient tree'. The British hunk proposed to Joanna in January this year, much to the devastation of his admirers. The pair then confirmed in September they are expecting their first child, eight months after the sportsman dropped to one knee. Joanna, a lingerie model and interior design student, is expected to give birth early next year.
However, a recent butt scratching story she told on the BBC's Graham Norton show seemed to cross the line for a lot of her fans.
Lawrence was on the notoriously bawdy talk show with her "Passengers" co-star Chris Pratt, when she recalled an itchy incident she had while filming the second "Hunger Games" movie.
"We were filming in Hawaii and there were sacred rocks, and you're not supposed to sit on them," she said. "I was in a wetsuit that whole shoot and oh my God, they were so good for butt itching! "
Fighting back laughter, she continued: "One rock that I was butt scratching on ended up going loose. It was a giant boulder and it rolled down the mountain and almost killed the sound guy. All the Hawaiian's were like, 'Oh my God, it's the curse!' And I'm in the corner like, 'I'm your curse. I wedged it loose with my ass.'"
The typically Lawrencian yarn rang hollow online, with many critics pointing out it seemed, well, pretty culturally insensitive.
"That time Jennifer Lawrence bragged about defiling sacred Hawaiian stones," someone wrote.
"She really thought this was funny... " said someone else, who also called her "white and evil. "
Lawrence told the same story on "Live with Kelly and Michael" in 2013, and she said she didn't know at the time that the rocks were sacred. However, for many people, that wasn't the point.
"The thing about what JLaw was saying is, she's kind of implying why the rocks were sacred was some silly/dumb "savage" thing," one person tweeted.
Twitter critics are calling on the actress to apologize for her comments.
Arsene Wenger this week promised that the north London club would do the 'maximum' they can to keep Sanchez and Mesut Ozil. Arsenal are desperate to tie the two down to new deals as both have just 18 months left on their current contracts. With Sanchez on £130,000 a week and Ozil on £140,000, Arsenal will have to smash their wage structure to keep the two leading lights of Wenger's team. Sanchez received instructions from Wenger during the session at London Colney on Friday ahead of their game against Stoke on Saturday. Also training was Shkodran Mustafi, the 24-year-old defender who has promised fans that he will do his all for them. 'You have to respect the fans a lot,' Mustafi told Goal . 'They're not earning the money we are earning and pay to come into the stadium, sometimes away trips, plus transport. 'It shows you how much they love this club and you have to give them respect for that. 'What I can give them back is trying to give them everything back on the pitch. 'As long as I work for the club that they love, I'm just going to give everything, so I'm happy with myself and make people happy.'
A former school bursar stole more than £30,000 from her workplace after her credit card debts mounted. Sara Jacques, 46, of Fulwood, Preston, stole cash from the school's pot of money for school trips and payroll, Preston Crown Court heard. She spent the money, which she began collecting in 2011, on holidays and her debts. Jacques admitted four counts of theft and two of fraud and sobbed as she was jailed for 20 months. But, prosecutor Peter Barr told Preston Crown Court that a co-worker began to raise concerns about the missing and unaccounted payments and her deceit was uncovered. Mr Barr said: 'It is said she substantially manipulated the payment of salaries. 'The co-worker was in a somewhat difficult situation as the defendant was her line manager and was well liked by the governors. 'She had become aware of school funds going missing, and at one stage Jacques appeared to 'point the finger' at her.' Justice William Davis said: 'It was successive stealing and involved a lot of thought and planning. 'Then when you were discovered you didn't admit this is what had happened or hold your hands up, you began to prevaricate and blame others. 'It was a charitable institution, a school that was all the more dependent on the trust of those work for them.' He told her he could not suspend her sentence due to 'a great breach of trust'. Defending, Nick Kennedy said Jacques had sold her family home to pay every single penny back and added: 'Her debts had escalated and she found it difficult to make the necessary repayments. 'Not surprisingly it brought about deep feelings of shame and severe embarrassment.' Jacques was dismissed from the school in a disciplinary hearing.
Dialing 911 isn't a call most people want to make, but it can mean the difference between life and death in an emergency. Quick treatment can help limit damage being done and increase the chance of a full recovery. Many times, people are hesitant to make the call. Lack of education about symptoms can act as a barrier to calling and getting the quick care a patient needs. Other reasons people may not want to call 911 include:
But, calling 911 instead of driving yourself or a loved one to a nearby emergency department can be the difference between life and death.
In an emergency situation, quick treatment is of utmost importance. Admitting that you need help can be difficult, but it's nothing to be ashamed of, and it's better to ask for help than risk your health. If you call 911, the operator can call for the help you need and walk you or a loved one through CPR if it's necessary. When you call EMS (emergency medical services), you are not obligated to go to the hospital and they will not make you go if it's not needed. When they arrive, they will assess the situation and either treat you on the scene or transport you to the hospital. If you do need to go to the hospital, it's better for them to drive you since a member of their team can assess and treat you along the way. Ambulances also have sirens, and special traffic laws that help them get you to the hospital faster. If you're experiencing an emergency, it can be unsafe to try and operate a vehicle.
With a specific system in place among the local first responders and Cone Health Emergency Medical Staff, our community's exceptional emergency medical team is prepared to coach and administer effective CPR, and communicate with the hospital teams to make sure everything is in place and they are ready to treat you once you arrive. Fortunately, Cone Health has an exceptional network of urgent care facilities, emergency departments, and a trauma care center dedicated to providing immediate treatment for individuals in the community experiencing unexpected illness, injury and other concerning health conditions.
Spokesperson Background:
Dr. Tiffany Randolph is a non-invasive cardiologist at Cone Health Medical Group HeartCare. Dr. Randolph received a Bachelor of Science in biology from Wake Forest University and she completed medical school at Harvard Medical School. She completed her residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in general cardiology at Duke University Hospital and Medical Center.
A secret Santa has paid off the outstanding meal accounts for students at a western Pennsylvania elementary school.
Amy Larcinese is the principal at H. W. Good Elementary School in Herminie.
The principal tells KDKA-TV (http://bit.ly/2gkh70r ) that some students can't afford to keep their cafeteria accounts up to date for the two meals they receive in school each day.
An anonymous donor showed up Wednesday and asked to settle all unpaid accounts, and also paid for the lunches for one child for the rest of the month after learning that pupil had an especially large account balance.
The principal says the donor used to have a child in the school and "just wanted to give back to the district. "
As for his identity, Larcinese says she's sworn to secrecy.
The interracial couple had been out of town, visiting their only living daughter. When they returned, they found the vacant rental property they owned defaced with swastikas. The words "white power" and "die n*****" were written on the walls. Vandals busted pipes, broke windows and stuffed drains.
"It was horrible and shocking to come home to," Pat Jude told CNN. "This was our home. I just don't understand why someone would think this is okay. "
More upsetting than the physical damage was the emotional harm. The crime caused the couple to relive decades of racism and injustice they endured because of their mixed marriage.
Joe, a black man, wed Pat, a white woman, in 1982. For years, they say, they endured verbal abuse and attacks. After 23 years, they headed from Orlando, Florida, to Cincinnati, Ohio, with their two children. But there, Pat says, the racial tensions got worse.
For Joe and Pat, the racial slurs and symbols smeared throughout the home touched off raw memories of their son Jay, who they said was taunted in school because of his mixed race. He committed suicide in 2010.
Outpouring of support
To cover damages to their home, the couple set up a GoFundMe account asking for $2,000. In just three days, they've received more than $40,000.
The outpouring of support, the couple wrote on the crowdfunding website, has "made such a difference. "
"I just wanted a few dollars to cover repairs, but to see all this support," Pat said. "I can't tell you how much this means to me especially after everything we've gone through. "
Donors expressed their feelings as well.
"I am so sorry about this and what happened to your son. Love to you and your family! May you receive all the money that you need, and know that Love does trump hate," one commenter wrote on the GoFundMe site.
The vandals are still at large, but Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley says police are actively working the case.
"This crime is not only an attack on an innocent family," Cranley said in a statement, "it is an attack on our values. "
Meanwhile, the Judes are offering $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest in the case.
Even though no one has come forward, Pat says her "faith in humanity is restored" and she has a message to whoever committed the crime: "Who in the world raised you to do this? We're all made the same. "
The Judes intend to use some of the funds to hold an event to bring Cincinnati residents together. Another portion of the proceeds will be donated to a suicide prevention charity.
To learn more about the Judes' story, visit their GoFundMe page .
Cristiano Ronaldo 's management company have defended their star over allegations of tax evasion by releasing his staggering £191million income for last year. The eye-watering revelation comes after Real Madrid forward Ronaldo was accused of avoiding tax by using offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands. But the firm representing the former Manchester United favourite have published financial records showing the whopping income he declared in 2015. Gestifute, run by super agent Jorge Mendes, released Ronaldo's 'Model 720' tax form online, insisting Spanish tax authorities have previously been supplied the data. The document claims the 31-year-old Portugal international declared just €23.5m (£19.8m) of income from inside Spain — where he plies his trade with Real Madrid — and made €203.7m (£171m) elsewhere. Ronaldo's astonishing £191m he earned last year alone translates to £523,000 a day, £3.7m a week and £15.9m a month. The form, however, did not show what taxes Ronaldo paid — although Gestifute insist Ronaldo has always cooperated with tax officials. The accompanying statement read: 'This document confirms that Spain's Tax Agency is knowledgeable of all of Cristiano Ronaldo's assets and income. From now on, the player will not make any further statement on this subject. 'As reported in recent days, the player has been aware of his tax obligations right away from the beginning of his professional career in all of the countries in which he has resided, and has not and has never had any issue with the tax authorities of any of those countries. 'This communication, which was not required by law, constitutes irrefutable proof that Cristiano Ronaldo and his representatives are in good faith and cooperate with the authorities in a spirit of transparency and compliance with legality.' Last week, Gestifute — who also represent United manager Jose Mourinho among other high-profile names in football — denied designing ways to help clients evade millions in taxes. The allegations are reported by an international consortium of media organisations, which includes The Sunday Times , after a huge data leak of more than 18 million documents. Real Madrid star Ronaldo is alleged by one of the publications, Dutch website NRC , to have moved €63.5m (£53.4m) to a tax haven in the Virgin Islands at the end of 2014. It is claimed that Mourinho's complex financial affairs involved keeping money in a Swiss bank account owned by a British Virgin Islands-registered company. The claims relate to a period before he took over at Manchester United. Information was originally passed from the Football Leaks whistleblowing site to German publication Der Spiegel earlier this year, and investigated by 60 journalists in the months following. The European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) consortium said the documents include photographs, spreadsheets and emails. It added that allegations arising from the probe will be published in the coming weeks, giving 'an unprecedented look into the gloomy depths of the modern football industry'. Gestifute, which provides 'career management' for sporting professionals, has rejected an allegation of facilitating tax evasion. In a statement, the firm, founded by agent Mendes, said: 'One newspaper makes the unfounded allegation that Gestifute, its clients and its advisers of having, directly or indirectly, created, organised or designed tax structures to facilitate tax evasion using tax havens. The most serious and malicious allegations in the inquiries relate to Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo.' It added: 'Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho are fully compliant with their tax obligations with the Spanish and British tax authorities. 'Neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Jose Mourinho have ever been involved in legal proceedings regarding the commission of a tax offence. 'Any insinuation or accusation made to Cristiano Ronaldo or Jose Mourinho over the commission of a tax offence will be reported to the legal authorities and prosecuted.'
Johannesburg - Beata Lipman, who hand-wrote the original Freedom Charter, died at the age of 88 in Johannesburg on Thursday, her daughter Jane said.
Lipman had been unwell after being scalded by hot water.
She appeared to be having seizures, so her daughter rushed her to hospital, where she died.
Lipman is most famous for helping to write down the Freedom Charter - a document that sets out the aspirations of a democratic South Africa, and which was eventually woven into the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
Jane Lipman on Friday described her mother as "tough and bright and determined and stubborn", and way ahead of her time on feminism.
Born in 1928 in Germany, Lipman came to South Africa at a young age when her parents fled Nazi Germany.
Lipman's time as a young girl was very traumatic, and she said she felt accepted in South Africa, Jane recalled.
'Women had to make tea and do all the writing'
Lipman attended Parktown Girls High School in Johannesburg and married the architect Alan Lipman.
The two anti-apartheid activists married in 1948 and had two children - Jane and Peter.
Jane said her mother was a feminist "way back then", and juggled her job as a journalist with her activism and mothering.
She worked with Ruth First on a newspaper and the two were always changing the title of the publication to evade security police, Jane recalled.
She participated in the famous Women's March to the Union Buildings in 1956, and she and her husband were members of the SA Communist Party (SACP).
They left the SACP when Russia invaded Hungary, but Jane said that the party still summoned them to Durban to officially "fire" them over this.
Of her mother's contribution to the Freedom Charter, Jane said: "The men did all the talking and deciding and the women had to make all the tea and do all the writing."
'She inspired me'
The couple left South Africa for the UK in 1963, when it became clear that they might be arrested by security forces.
There, Lipman became a print and television journalist, with an intense commitment to social justice.
She worked for the BBC's current affairs programme, made films for the BBC, worked on News Night, and wrote a book titled We Make Freedom .
On her return to South Africa, Lipman and Jane worked together on films and documentaries.
"She inspired me," added Jane.
Lipman will be cremated in a private ceremony on Friday. A memorial service is expected to be held in January.
Speaking to students at DePauw University in Indiana, United States, the ex-PM said the Brexit vote and election of Donald Trump were driven by a " mixture of economics and cultural arguments. "
He also issued a warning over the future of the euro, saying there is " more trouble ahead " for the single currency, which is " not working as intended ."
Cameron's first major speech since quitting as prime minister and MP for Witney comes two months after the former parliamentarian registered a business in the UK to manage his lucrative speaking fees.
A rise of " populism " cost him his job, he told the audience, before defending his decision to call a referendum, arguing the issue of Europe had " poisoned " British politics for 40 years.
In answer to a question after his speech, which was titled 'The Historic Events of 2016 and Where We Go From Here', Cameron said: " So far these three events - the Brexit referendum, the election of President Trump, the referendum in Italy - I'm sure people are going to write about this movement of unhappiness and concern about the state of the world .
" I think you could see that in the British vote ... was a mixture of economics and cultural arguments, I think your situation [in the US] was quite similar, I think in Italy it's more connected with the euro.
" But ultimately, how 2016 goes down in history will depend on what political leaders do next. That's why I have tried to make a very clear argument which is that if they put their heads in the sand and say, 'well this will pass and we just carry on the way we are', then 2016 will be seen as a real watershed. "
Cameron said he believed Western democracies are " flexible enough " and leaders are " aware enough " to " course correct " the problems they face.
He added that there must be greater emphasis on trying to help those left behind through tax cuts for the poor.
The former PM also issued a warning over the future of the single currency in Europe, according to the Telegraph.
" I see more trouble ahead," he said. "It is not working as it was intended. Some countries have seen decades of lost growth. Those countries have a single currency but they don't have a single fiscal system, a fiscal tax system. It creates bigger differences."
" You in the United States have ways to make sure that if you have a bad year you pay less in taxes and offset federal programmes. There are no such arrangements in Europe. "
This Morning viewers were left seething over a plastic surgeon who claims to have created his perfect wife with liposuction, bum lifts and body contouring. Phillip Craft, 47, runs his own clinic in Miami and says he spent $30,000 altering his wife Anna's body ever since she gave birth to his two sons. But the way he spoke about the adjustments he'd made to her angered those watching the daytime show at home: 'She is a human being not a bloody mannequin. I can't believe what I am watching right now.' Over the course of their 21-year-marriage, Anna has had a boob job, liposuction, butt 'enhancements', body-contouring surgery, waist and abdominal sculpting, Botox, cheek and lip fillers. One viewer blasted: 'What an a**hole! Plastic surgeon reckons he can placate his wife with "dinner and a pair of shoes" if the surgery goes wrong.' 'He should be put in an asylum,' one person said. 'Haha, this blokes talking about his Mrs like a car,' one social media user commented. One upset person said: '"I created my perfect wife"... I'm sorry, if your wife was perfect when you met her, why change her? I'd Divorce your ass!' 'You can tell she's forced into this surgery,' another concerned viewer added. Others blasted the surgeon himself over his appearance, saying: 'He's hardly a fricking model is he??? It's like he's controlling her with how she looks!' 'I bet the plastic surgeon's wife wishes she could remodel him!' another added. Anna explained during her interview with Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on the ITV show: 'When we met I was modelling and I felt great about myself, I never had a self esteem issue. 'I then had two babies gained 50 pounds with each child and was not at my best. One day at the office with him I saw the women who looked amazing in their fifties. 'I thought how can I have this shape and not look better than these women? 'I told him that was an emergency.' Although she initially snubbed her husband's requests to give her a little nip and tuck, Anna had a change of heart when her body changed after her two sons, Aston, 13, and Phillip Jr, 11, were born. Now she's so pleased with the results that she's open to even more surgical procedures by her other half. Phillip said of his wife who he uses as an in-house model: 'She was always an amazing woman, she was so gorgeous, I knew she would be my soul mate forever. 'We gave her back what she wanted when it came to her look. 'Usually surgeons don't do work on their family but she said this was an emergency.' The couple admitted they haven't ruled out more work as both agree she might need it as she ages. Phillip said: 'As she gets older she might need cheek filler. A mini tummy tuck would be fine but I love her the way she is but if she wants to change I will fix it for her.' Anna agreed saying: 'There is always something we as women want to critique our body. I would like more body sculpting as age is creeping up on me. Stayed tuned I am sure I will be up to something.' 'I will never leave her, she's my walking billboard. She will never leave me as I would have to give her my surgery bill,' Phillip joked. It was only after the birth of her second child, in 2005, that Anna, then 32, let Phillip operate on her. Her first procedure was a breast augmentation, and she was delighted with her new boobs. Phillip says: 'During her pregnancies, Anna lost 30-40 per cent of her breast volume, but I got her a brilliant new set.' Anna was thrilled with the results, and she soon asked Phillip to perform more surgery on her. Phillip said in a past interview: 'I did some liposuction on Anna's waist, and contoured her waistline to make it much deeper. Now when Anna wears her small bikinis, everyone stops to look at her curves. 'I've made her buttocks even better, too. After pregnancy, Mother Nature made everything go south so I plumped her buttocks. Most importantly I gave Anna her mojo back.' Anna also started getting facial injections to complete her makeover. She said: 'I feel Botox and fillers are bare necessities for any women over the age of 25 in order to maintain their beauty. Looking natural doesn't always mean being natural.' Anna adds: 'Plastic surgery is a beautiful thing, and I love having Phillip work his magic on me. I'm so proud to be called his designer wife.'
JACKSON, MI - By the end, 120 "yes" votes and zero "no" votes were cast for the 20 agenda items under "other business" and "new business" at Tuesday's Jackson City Council meeting.
The meeting didn't go by without discussion and decisions, however. Here are seven takeaways from Tuesday night.
2017 meeting dates set
After cancelling the Dec. 20 meeting scheduled for later this month, council approved the 2017 meeting calendar.
The first of the year - the next time council meets - is January 10. Two meetings are set for every month except July, August and November. For a full list of meeting dates, go to page 94 on the council agenda.
Council supports downtown restaurant, grocery store and bar
All six members present agreed to approve a resolution of support for the 148 E. Cortland St. development, owned by Andrew Kokas and Yizhuo "Olivia" Liang.
The couple recently received a $75,000 award from the Good Food Fund toward their development. This resolution of support will be beneficial, Kokas said, as many loan officers ask for an example of community support.
City makes adjustments to personnel policy
Minor changes were approved to change the city's personnel policy, regarding vacation accrual, cotinine testing and pension details.
The city tests employees for cotinine - an anagram for nicotine, and results when the body metabolizes nicotine. Under the new policy, those who test positive must pay for a larger portion of their health insurance.
"Being self-funded, we can tell you the number of drugs that we pay for and what they are," said City Manager Patrick Burtch. "Our top three drugs are cancer-related, smoking-related drugs. "
Many people quit smoking, according to Burtch, after the city created the policy two years ago. Under the new policy, positive-testers must cover 50 percent of their health insurance by 2020.
"I assume there aren't going to be many people wanting to smoke or chew tobacco if they're paying for half of their health care insurance. "
For pension calculations, the final number is averaged from a longer stretch of pay years for many employees, with overtime pay no longer factoring in.
To see all the changes implemented, go to page 162 in the council agenda .
Help for rehabbing downtown
Under new modifications approved Tuesday, the city can offer up to an additional $25,000 per unit of interior infrastructure, balconies or common areas in downtown investor-owned rehabilitation.
"These projects in old buildings downtown are not the easiest to pull off financially," Burtch said. "What we're trying to accomplish is trying to incentivize these projects happening in a faster manner. "
Burtch used the former One Five One restaurant on Michigan Avenue as an example.
"We hope to get another restauranteur back in that building," Burtch said. "(The city) would invest in six or eight of the units, you would increase the amount if they increase the amount they put into the project and they do it in a quicker basis. This addition to the policy would allow for up to $75,000 per unit, which is typical for doing windows and balconies. "
At least 51 percent of the units must be income controlled - not market rate - for the first tenant for at least five years.
Mayor Bill Jors addresses potential non-discrimination ordinance
During the final comments at the end of the meeting, Jors spoke on a pair of issues he expects to return to the forefront in 2017: Street name changes and the NDO.
The potential NDO would protect LGBT people against discrimination in employment, public housing and public accommodations.
"If there's a need demonstrated for either, we're more than willing to talk about it," Jors said. "I've asked for a couple of examples, I think I asked for a couple dozen examples, of the NDO in action. "
He mentioned the lack of complaints lodged in municipalities with an NDO.
"I don't think we're going to pass laws just to pass laws," he said. "If there's a need, we'll take action. Demonstrate the need. "
Commonwealth Associates may bring headquarters to downtown Jackson
A three-story, 45,000-square-foot headquarters worth $12 million is in the planning phases for Commonwealth Associates in downtown Jackson. Building would likely begin in 2018 with workers moving in by 2019, if the company goes forward with the plans.
City obtains 50 more lots
Another 50 vacant parcels became city property Tuesday, as the city exercised its right of first refusal on the selected lots. Council members discussed future ideas for the spaces, as no definite plan has been put forward yet.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Growing up in Eastown, real estate developer Ryan Ogle believes he missed out on the opportunity others realized as the Southeast Side neighborhood became an entertainment district.
Ogle, owner of Bluhouse Properties LLC, is hoping he and his partners got in early enough to ride the wave they expect to see along Bridge Street NW, where big real estate players like Rockford Construction Co. are pouring millions into their plan to turn the West Side into the city's new hot spot.
"I wanted to dance in the shadow of Rockford Construction," says Ogle, whose company sells and manages real estate and operates a construction company.
Last year, Ogle and his partners spent about $1.2 million and bought five properties along Bridge Street that include a bar that the city shut down, and a former meat market across the street from the block on which Rockford Construction plans to build a Meijer store and several other residential buildings.
Developer wants to bring excitement back to his old West Side neighborhood
Ogle's construction company recently began remodeling the former Bar Louie's/Rocket Lounge, 608 Bridge St. NW. The partners bought the property for $650,000 after the state Liquor Control Commission pulled its license after more than a dozen liquor code violations.
The new tenant will be "a family-friendly blue-collar restaurant," according to proprietor Meagan Frericks, who named it "One Bourbon," for the opening line in a blues classic by rocker George Thorogood. She plans to open next March.
With 100 seats on two levels inside and 50 outdoor seats, Frericks said she hopes to create a restaurant with "reasonable prices for us normal folks. "
Next door, at the former "20th Century Market," Ogle said he's hoping to rent the building out as a casual restaurant that will serve lunch and light dinners.
Three blocks west, Ogle and his partners have bought a boarded-up bait shop and two rental properties across the street from St. James Catholic Church, a fixture on the West Side.
Located on three adjacent lots that take up most of the block, Ogle said they're not sure what they will do with the buildings, which currently house tenants.
"It's a changing neighborhood," he said. "I feel it's like where Eastown was 25 years ago. "
This week, dogs and their owners will be competing in the 'FA cup' of the dog agility world, the annual Kennel Club Dog Agility Finals at Olympia, held as part of the London International Horse Show. The super obedient dogs will wow the audiences with their speed and agility as they compete to be crowned a champion by the judges. So what does it take to train a dog to be so responsive and athletic? And can any dog become an agility pro? FEMAIL sent Lucy Waterlow and her ten-year-old rescue dog, a border collie called Patch, to find out... If I'd blinked, I would have missed Tayla the border collie flying round the dog agility course at a practice session I was invited to attend by her expert owner Alan Bray. Tayla may be retired from competition now at the age of 11, but she can still reach speeds of 30mph as she zooms through tunnels, leaps over hurdles, and zig zags through a 'weave' without a second's hesitation under Alan's expert instruction. Alan, 59, from Leceistershire, has won championship titles at Crufts and other major dog shows during his highly decorated career, and now he trains other dogs and their handlers, as well as still competing himself. Like Tayla, the dogs he competes with are all family pets that he and his daughter, Selena, 35, have trained since they were puppies. So could they turn my rescue border collie Patch into an agility expert at the ripe old age of 10? I had my reservations, as while Patch is super fit from joining me running every day, he's very easily spooked by shouting and generally doesn't like anything new or unfamiliar. He won't even enter the local park unless it is empty early in the morning, as if he hears a sound he doesn't like – whether that's children on a playground or people playing football - he'll refuse to budge any further. I had visions of him being this stubborn about taking on the agility course which Tayla had demonstrated with such finesse, and I was concerned his age could also be a factor - you know what they say about teaching an old dog new tricks. But Patch did have one advantage on his side – his breed – as border collies make excellent agility dogs. Their ability to quickly pick up commands and their athleticism make them the Olympians of the dog agility world. Such is their dominance, Olympia even has an ABC (Anything But Collie) category to give other breeds a chance. He's also found that female dogs learn faster than male ones, although sometimes it is just down to them having the right temperament. 'You can't make a dog do it,' Alan said. 'Each dog is different. It is important to make it fun for them so it is play and not work. Sometimes they can be too eager, and then the challenge is curbing their enthusiasm.' Alan said that before learning agility, a dog must first master basic commands, and he recommends all dog owners take their pets to dog obedience classes from a young age. When it comes to commanding your dog in a way they will respond to, Alan recommends always keeping your tone calm and level and remaining patient. 'Try to avoid making your voice go higher each time you issue the command if they don't respond straight away,' he said, 'and never let anger creep in, it should always be a calm, gentle "come on" rather than an aggressive and loud "COME ON! "' Once a dog has learnt basic commands, Alan recommends finding a dog agility class via the Kennel Club website where they can gradually learn how to use the equipment. Alan endorse's positive reward methods - lots of praise when a dog gets it right, having their favourite toy as a target for them to aim for, and occasionally rewarding with a treat (Alan has found Marks & Spencer's cocktail sausages to be particularly popular). Alan started going to dog agility classes himself 30 years ago as a means of spending time with his daughter, then aged six. 'I used to go to football and rugby with my sons so I wanted something active Selena and I could do together. We took our dog to our local agility class and we all loved it,' he recalled. Dog agility then became less a hobby and more a way of life for them, with Alan's late wife Jayne also getting involved. Since taking up the activity, Alan has been voted Top Agility Handler of all time by fellow Agility Club handlers, represented the Team GB Kennel Club Agility in the European and World Dog Agility Championships and won 20 championship certificates with six different dogs, including wins in major finals at Crufts, Discover Dogs and Olympia. Meanwhile, soon to be mother-of-four Selena has also won Crufts and Discover Dog titles and runs Fox Agility Dog Training Club, based in Hinkley, Leicestershire, around her job for the National Grid. Patch's lesson took place at an equestrian centre in Towcester on a beginners' course, laid out on a surface of rough carpet, which Alan said is perfect for agility training as it is a soft surface to run on. After watching Alan and Tayla's demonstration, I was first given the opportunity to run round the obstacles commanding Tayla, before Patch had a go. As Tayla started round the course relying on my instructions, I learnt the handlers have to be as super fit as the dogs as they need to be able to keep up with them. The handler's body position and hand signals are also crucial, as when the dogs are moving at speed, they will quickly judge where to go based on the direction the handler is pointing. On one occasion, I stepped on poor Tayla's paw as I became muddled over the sequence and gave her an incorrect direction to run in. When I did get it right, I felt like Harry Potter, shouting a command like a spell - 'over!', 'through!', 'weave!' - and then seeing Tayla instantly respond as if by magic. Of course, it is hours of training rather than magic that makes a dog like Tayla so responsive, but Alan, who works for Agria Pet Insurance in Aylesbury, said others will pick it up quickly with regular practice. Getting a dog to focus on their owner can be achieved through play, so we began Patch's lesson by getting him interested in a rope toy, before using that as bait to tempt him over and through the obstacles. I was surprised by how easily he took to it, perhaps because he had watched Tayla first and thought it seemed like good fun. He seemed to be enjoying himself straight away, only occasionally getting frustrated if he didn't initially understand what I was asking him to do. First he tried running round jumps in a circle chasing the rope toy, then he did it with the toy waiting for him at the finish. Next he hurdled a row of jumps in response to me calling him at the other end. He braved the tunnel after seeing me at the other end of it waving his toy, and then tried walking along the plank of the bridge on the floor, before gaining the confidence to walk along it when elevated. He was then able to try two different jumps in a row – a hoop and a small version of the long jump – and loved leaping over the barriers to enthusiastically grab the rope toy in my hands at the end. So Patch proved you can teach an old dog new tricks - although he doesn't quite have the energy of a younger dog anymore, as he fell asleep as soon as we finished. To see the 'professional' dogs and their handlers in action this week visit the Olympia Horse Show website for tickets.
Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching based in Dana Point Harbor offers some relief from the holiday stress: free whale-watching tickets for children with a paying adult.
The offer is good through December when gray whales start to pass along Southern California's coast during their extraordinary 10,000-mile migration from the Bering Sea to Baja, Mexico, and back.
Adult tickets for a two-hour tour cost $45. With this deal, you save $29 each on children's tickets. You may book online or by calling.
Botanical wonders abound in the wild Sonoran Desert of Organ Pipe National Monument and Saguaro National Park. Just mind the heat. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The next president will find a Washington, D. C., that's dramatically different from the city Barack Obama saw at his inauguration in 2009, or even the one in 2013. Museums and hotels, new and renewed. Restaurants left and right. Lower crime and rising neighborhoods, too.
Motif. No. 1 might look like a modest fishing shack on the waterfront of Rockport, Mass., but there's more to it. This two-minute video tells the tale.
A selection of photos submitted by readers from their summer travels. See more
Our reporter drove all 469 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs through Virginia and North Carolina.
Our reporter drove all 469 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs through Virginia and North Carolina.
A woman who was five months into her pregnancy claims she miscarried because a nurse gave her the wrong drugs. The woman, who was treated at a hospital in Shanghai, says she was given an abortion pill by an inexperienced nurse The woman, identified as Zhao Li, went for a regular check-up at Pudong Maternity and Infant Health Hospital in Shanghai, on July 1, People's Daily reported. Her results led doctors to recommend that she stayed at the hospital for further care. She received fluids through a drip while she was staying at the hospital. However, on the morning of July 3, Zhao developed a red rash on her body, indicating that she was allergic to her prescribed drugs, according to the report. Her doctor prescribed her Dydrogesterone, a drug used to prevent miscarriage, to help with her pregnancy. But a nurse, who according to Zhao had just started working at the hospital, gave her Mifepristone, an abortion drug, instead. The nurse insisted it was the correct drug when questioned multiple times. When the couple asked other nurses about what Zhao had taken, the hospital staff were alarmed to discover that the wrong drugs had been administered. She was taken to another hospital for emergency treatment. Due to Zhao's condition, doctors advised her to drink water and vomit in order to try and purge the drug from her system, which she duly did. Despite having blood samples and her vomit taken for analysis, doctors were not able to conclusively confirm how much drug she has absorbed. Afterwards, she returned to Pudong Maternity and Infant Health Hospital to continue her care. Later that evening, Zhao says she experience stomach pains, vomiting and had vaginal bleeding. She was eventually discharged on July 21. When the expectant mother returned for a check-up on August 22, the results indicated that the baby was quite weak. Despite medical staff's best efforts, her baby was delivered prematurely on August 29, by which time Zhao was 23 weeks pregnant. Zhao said: 'The baby was breathing at the time. But the hospital staff said he was too young and could not save him.' Pudong Maternity and Infant Health Hospital denied that the Mifepristone caused Zhao's miscarriage, People's Daily reported. MailOnline has contacted the hospital for additional comment.
Women may stop taking a common breast cancer drug because they mistakenly believe it is causing side-effects, a study has found. Tamoxifen helps to stop cancer returning if it's taken over a long period and is widely used among women with the hormone-positive disease. It is also one of several drugs recommended for women at high risk of developing breast cancer in the future. But tamoxifen is known to cause side-effects, which include hot flushes, sweats, nausea and low libido, prompting some women to stop taking it. A Cancer Research UK study has shown around a third of women do not take the drug for the recommended five years. While a large proportion stop using the drug within just 12 months as a result of the side effects. While the research has also found women taking placebo drugs are just as likely to suffer from nausea and vomiting. They were also discovered to be just as likely to stop taking them. This suggests that some symptoms are due to other causes, and are being mistaken for the side-effects of tamoxifen. Dr Samuel Smith, from the charity, said: 'Our findings have implications for how doctors talk to patients about the benefits and side-effects of preventive therapies such as tamoxifen. 'It's important to manage expectations and provide accurate information on the likelihood of experiencing specific side-effects and how these differ from symptoms that women may experience anyway. 'The high drop-out rate observed in the early stages of the trial suggest that more support is needed to help women understand and manage side-effects that may be linked to their treatment.' Sarah Williams, also from the charity, added: 'Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK but research is helping us find new ways of preventing the disease in women at high risk. 'While drugs such as tamoxifen and anastrozole can cut the risk of the disease, they do cause side-effects. 'Research like this to understand more about the side-effects women experience, and the decisions this leads them to make, is vital to offering them appropriate support so they can make the best choice for them. 'It's important for anyone experiencing symptoms that are unusual for them, that don't clear up, or that keep coming back to tell their doctor.'
ATLANTA -- The City of Atlanta is investigating after a railing collapse critically injured two men. It happened Wednesday night in the popular Westside Provisions district.
According to Atlanta police, the two men were leaving Marcel restaurant around 11 p.m., when they stopped on the balcony and leaned against the rail. That railing suddenly gave way, causing the men to fall from the second floor onto the ground below.
The two victims were rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital with serious injuries. As of Wednesday afternoon, both were in stable condition.
Owners of Marcel, Ford Fry Restaurants Group, released a statement Thursday afternoon:
Atlanta Police Officer Lukasz Sajdak said the popular entertainment and restaurant area was crowded when police arrived.
"One of [the victims] began to fall," Sajdak said. "The witness did state that the other person did try to grab the person that was falling, but unfortunately, both of them did fall from the second floor. "
In a statement to 11Alive News, a spokesperson for the City of Atlanta said a building inspector found that the guardrail had deteriorated, causing the collapse.
"The Office of Buildings inspected the site of the incident this morning and determined that the vertical guardrail had deteriorated, which caused the railing to collapse," the statement read. "The Office made recommendations to install a temporary guard and to consult with an engineer who would responsible for submitting plans to install a new railing and obtain a permit from the City of Atlanta Office of Buildings. "
The building is managed by Jamestown property management. A spokesperson for Westside Provisions District issued the following statement:
We are working diligently with the authorities as they continue their investigation into the incident that occurred on the evening of Wednesday, December 7, 2016. The safety and security of all guests and tenants is always our first priority.
Wednesday afternoon, crews installed wooden reinforcement along all second floor railing, per city mandate. Once installed, the second level stores were allowed to reopen. The property must now work with an engineer to install permanent replacement railing.
The Westside Provisions District is a former meat packing district that was revitalized in 2007. The area is now a very busy area of the city with restaurants, shops and condominiums.
(© 2016 WXIA)
He was trained in Moscow, has worked in Paris, and now owns his own salon in Istanbul. But stylist and social media star Mehmet Gunes' exacting clientele aren't women - they're poodles and pomeranians. The Turkish groomer documents his daily duties on his Instagram page, which is peppered with video clips of pooches having their coats lathered, their claws clipped and their fur blow dried. Gunes' @petstylistt account now has more than 180,000 followers, and his video clips rack up thousands of views each. The clips show pets looking relaxed as Gunes works his magic on their fluffy coats. They have their paws cleaned, their fur washed, and are even treated to massages. Some of the videos are slowed down, to show off the dogs' shiny new coats to full effect as they're blasted with the hair dryer.
An inquest was today opened following the tragic death of a young couple who were found dead in a car in Essex. Tom Putt, 20, and Nikki Willis, 23, were discovered unresponsive in his brand new £17,000 Ford Fiesta ST outside her home in Chelmsford. Opening the inquest, coroner's officer David Dinnell said: 'On the morning of December 5 Nikki Willis and Tom Putt were both found unresponsive in a vehicle. 'Paramedics arrived and confirmed that they had both passed away. Police attended and all protocols were followed.' A post-mortem into the cause of their deaths on Monday proved inconclusive. The Fiesta was parked outside the home Miss Willis shares with her mother Michelle Hindson, 46, and stepfather Stuart Hindson, 45. The families of Miss Willis, who worked in electronics shop CeX, and Mr Putt, an apprentice for Ford Motor Company, paid tribute to the pair who are believed to have dated for around six months. Her family said: 'Our gorgeous baby girl, daughter, stepdaughter, sister, girlfriend and friend of so many. 'We are so proud of you even though your time here was too short. You loved life and always had a smile. 'You will never be forgotten, always and forever in our hearts and memories. Our angel now has her wings. 'Please can the families and friends have our time to grieve and come to terms with our sudden loss in peace.' Manchester United fan Mr Putt's family also paid tribute him. His family, of Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, said: 'We are utterly shocked and devastated at the death of our darling son Tom. 'He was a whirlwind in our lives from day one, always cheeky, always smiling. 'He was maturing into a charming, kind and lovely young man. 'Tom touched many people's lives and hearts and we are so grateful for all the touching messages and kind words we have received from his friends. 'He was an engineering apprentice and was passionate about cars, his hockey and football, especially his team, Manchester United. 'He had recently achieved a long-time ambition to see them play at old Trafford and he was so thrilled about being able to do this. 'He would have turned 21 next month and we can't believe that we won't be sharing the rest of his life with him. 'We and your sisters love you Tom and will miss you for the rest of our lives.' Area coroner for Essex Eleanor McGann adjourned the inquest until 10am on March 17 next year.
A package thief stole a parcel full of poop from the front porch of a homeowner who left it there in a ploy to stunt a crime spree. CCTV footage picked up the brazen criminal walking towards the front door of the property in Riverside, California. Unbeknown to the thief, the package is a sealed box full of dog dirt which was gathered by the homeowners the Zarembas following a party for their Great Dane. Scroll down for video Mike Zaremba told CBS Los Angeles : 'At first I really felt violated even though I knew what was inside the package, I was still like, he stole from me. 'Since we've lived at this house we've had three packages stolen, so just trying to get back at somebody. 'Our Great Dane had her first birthday so my wife threw her a birthday party. We had seven or eight dogs here. 'As you can imagine, lots of land mines.' The disgruntled family gathered the dog mess, placed them in the parcel and left it at the front of their house for opportunist thieves after three of their parcels had already been stolen from their home. Cops have tracked down the alleged culprit, Daniel Aldama, according to CBS. Ronel Newton of the Riverside Police Department told the news outlet: 'He dropped it as soon as he found out. 'He didn't want nothing to do with it and kept on riding.'
It is very doubtful that you have ever heard of Austin Tice. Yet he is a freelance journalist who has been held captive in Syria since August 2012.
Too little has been reported about a man who is on the verge of spending his fifth Christmas in the hands of unknown captors in an unknown location in a war-torn country.
Tice was working for the US newspaper publisher, McClatchy, when he was abducted. A month later, a 47-second film of him was released on to YouTube. Blindfolded and forced to read a message in Arabic, he was roughly handled. ( Warning: it is disturbing to watch. His father rightly called it brutal ).
There has been no contact since from Tice or his captors. However, two months ago, Reporters San Frontieres (RSF) cited "diverse credible sources" who believe him to be alive and who further say he is not being held by Isis.
His situation remains the same, according to a briefing I received a week ago as a member of RSF's new UK advisory board.
Aside from the McClatchy chain of newspapers, Tice's work has been published by the Washington Post, the Associated Press , CBS and the BBC. His reporting has earned him several awards.
In 2012, he won both the George Polk award for war reporting and the McClatchy president's award. Three years later, while a captive, he was given the US national press club John Aubuchon press freedom award.
It was on 14 August 2012, three days after his 31st birthday, that Tice was abducted while preparing to travel from Daraya, near Damascus, to Beirut in neighbouring Lebanon.
In October 2012, the Guardian reported that the US state department believed Tice was in the custody of the Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad. By that time RSF had begun assisting and advising his family in order to raise awareness of their son's situation.
In February 2015, RSF launched its #freeaustintice campaign. The following month, the Guardian reported that the US and Syria had entered into "rare direct talks" about Tice. But nothing came of the initiative.
Last month, on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, RSF helped to organise the unveiling of a banner on the facade of the Newseum in Washington. It showed a photo of Tice with the message, "Held captive for being a journalist since August 2012." The banner will remain in place until his safe return.
Jeffrey Herbst, president and chief executive of the Newseum, said: "We hope this banner, prominently displayed on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of citizens and lawmakers alike, will raise awareness of his captivity and bring him one step closer to home."
If you want to take part in the campaign to free Tice, please sign the petition , which is addressed to President Barack Obama, and take the blindfold pledge, a symbol of Austin's kidnapping.
To participate, people can take photos of themselves blindfolded and post them on social media outlets with an explanation of why you are doing so: to raise awareness of Tice's abduction and to call for anyone who might count to help bring pressure to bear in order to effect his release.
Just 60 years ago next spring, the Supreme Court, in Loving v. Virginia, struck down as unconstitutional the laws of Virginia and 15 other states prohibiting interracial marriage. During the 15 years prior to the Court's decision, 14 other states had repealed or overturned such laws. It is disheartening to think that as recently as the end of World War II, three-fifths of our states had prohibited marriage between persons of different races.
Virginia's laws made it a felony for people of different races to marry, or to live in Virginia after having married elsewhere, punishing violators with a prison term of up to five years.
The parties to the Loving case, Mildred Jeter, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, had married lawfully in the District of Columbia in 1958 and returned to their home community in Virginia to live and work near family and friends. They were arrested, handcuffed, jailed and convicted of violating Virginia's anti-miscegenation laws.
The judge suspended the jail sentence on the condition that the Lovings leave Virginia and not return together for 25 years. "The fact that [God] separated the races [and placed them on separate continents]," he said, "shows that he did not intend for the races to mix. "
The Lovings tried moving back to the District of Columbia. But that meant raising their children in a city, far from their families and friends, and the beautiful Virginia countryside they had known as home for their entire lives. So they returned to Virginia, the home of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, John Marshall, Patrick Henry, and James Madison, only to encounter again the ugly face of hatred, discrimination and the prospect of years in prison.
With the help of civil rights lawyers, including from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Lovings attempted repeatedly to overturn Virginia's law, fighting judicial precedents going back as far as the 1896 US Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which had upheld separate "but equal" public schools, an opinion unanimously overturned by the Brown v. Board of Education court in 1954. All to no avail. Virginia's highest court ultimately rejected their challenge citing an earlier decision by that court referring to the importance of the "preservation of racial integrity" and the "divine natural law," which forbids the "corruption of races. "
Despite the years of pain, uncertainty, fright, and state-sponsored hostility, the Lovings did not give up, and nine years after their marriage, their case made its way to the United States Supreme Court. So agonizing was the process that the Lovings could not bear to attend the arguments by their lawyers in court. Richard poignantly told his lawyers to "tell the judges I love my wife. "
The Justices must have heard him. The unanimous opinion by Chief Justice Warren held that Virginia's miscegenation statutes rested solely upon distinctions drawn according to race, and were therefore "odious to a free people whose institutions are founded upon the doctrine of equality. " Finding that "marriage is one of the basic civil rights of man," the court found that denial of that right based upon racial classifications violated the principles of equality and due process guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
The Lovings were finally free, their marriage finally recognized as their fundamental right, and they were free at last to raise their children as full and equal Americans.
The story of the Lovings' long ordeal, their stubborn fight for their right to marry, their pain, and ultimately, their joy, is told with passion, sensitivity, and empathy in the film, "Loving," directed by Jeff Nichols, and starring Ruth Negga as Mildred and Joel Edgerton as Richard Loving. It is inspirational and uplifting. The power of love, and the ultimate majesty of our constitutional ideals are reaffirmed brilliantly. Everyone should see this movie; our children must see it.
The politics of the moment, particularly during a bitter, acrid presidential election, can be so corrosive, and the focus on the immediate advantage to one set of persons or issues so intense, that we can easily lose sight and sense of what this nation means and what kind of people we are—and hope to be.
Seeing what Richard and Mildred Loving meant to one another, and how hard and long they fought for their freedom and equality is precisely what we need this holiday season as an antidote to the dispiriting and debasing poison that we have been through these past brutal months.
She's the radio host that's known to speak her mind. And Chrissie Swan certainly did, in an interview with The Herald Sun this week. The 43-year-old dissed Secret Santa, or Kris Kringle as it's otherwise known, blasting it as 'rubbish' and a 'great landfill experiment.' Scroll down for video The radio and television star explained her reasoning to the publication. 'If you cap a present at $20 or $30, which is what we do at the [NOVA radio] workplace, it really limits what sort of quality stuff you can get,' Chrissie said. 'That's why you find rubbish to come in under the budget,' the mother-of-three continued. Chrissie has certainly come to headlines of late. Last month, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that two of her Network Ten TV shows are not in the 2017 schedule. According to the publication, Long Lost Family has been scrapped, while The Great Australian Spelling Bee is rested for the year. It comes after Ten confirmed the return of the popular franchises The Bachelor and Bachelorette and Australian Survivor. Despite Chrissie's good radio ratings as a breakfast co-host on Nova 100 in Melbourne, the media personality's flagging TV ratings have been at the centre of the scrapping. Figures for The Great Australian Spelling Bee more than halved its audience year-on-year, while Long Lost Family had an average audience of just over half a million viewers during it's first season. However, a spokesperson for Ten has told the Sydney Morning Herald it's not the last we'll see of Chrissie on their network, noting: 'Chrissie is always top-of-mind for us when we do anything.' They added they are 'always open' to working with Chrissie again. Chrissie appeared on Big Brother in 2003 and has built a successful career for herself in media. After appearing on failed morning TV show, The Circle, Chrissie went on to appear in reality TV hit I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! Australia, where she placed second runner-up in the viewer vote. Ironically, Chrissie recently opened up to News Corp about her family - including husband Chris Saville - and said that they have always been there for her to count on during hard times in her career. 'This industry is pretty volatile; your contract can not be renewed and someone else can take your job, and that's happened to me,' she said. 'It makes you think, 'If work isn't constant, then what is?' And every time, it's been what goes on under my roof — my three kids and my family.'
Arriving at the New Year's Eve party with her husband and two children, all dressed up for the occasion, Tracey Roscoe was thrilled that her family had finally broken into the inner sanctum in their village community. This was an annual event, hosted by the local rugby coach and his wife at their beautiful farmhouse and, with their son now part of the junior team, the Roscoes had at last got a coveted place on the guest list. Fast forward four hours, however, and Tracey — at the time a bursar at a respected local school — had ruined everything: her reputation, her dignity, and also her host's tastefully decorated, 8ft Nordic Christmas tree, into which she cartwheeled, sending it crashing down, baubles-and-all. The root cause of this outrageous display? Tracey, 45, lays the blame entirely at the door of prosecco — the drink of choice for so many middle-aged, middle-class women today. Retelling the story still has Tracey, who is married to Steve, a facilities manager, and has a daughter and son, Martha, 14, and George, 11, wincing with mortification. Flashbacks of being helped up by other guests, and picking pine needles out of her hair while gushing apologies, can creep up and assault her, two years after the event. 'I'd never drunk prosecco before,' she pleads. 'People kept topping up my champagne flute. It was absolutely delicious, and went down so much more easily than the one or two glasses of red wine I'd usually sip on social occasions,' 'Normally I'm so responsible — I'd go so far as to say boring. My children had never seen me drunk before, or hungover. I really don't know what came over me.' It's a lament many women will, no doubt, be echoing this season, when prosecco corks will be popping up and down the country. We Brits spent a staggering £182 million on the Italian sparkling white last year, when prosecco outsold champagne for the first time. And our thirst doesn't show any signs of abating, with women, in particular, its biggest fans. Clever marketing means prosecco is now seen as the perfect accompaniment to any girls' night out, according to Katherine Brown, director of the Institute of Alcohol Studies. 'Prosecco is found on supermarket shelves, among all the delicious Christmas nibbles, so we're being guided to associate it with fun, happy times,' says Katherine. 'Light, sweet drinks are also very much targeted at women, and, like fizzy soft drinks, it's easy to consume large quantities without realising.' And that, says Tracey, was what became her undoing. 'I was having a lovely time, chatting, when all of a sudden this really funky song started playing and all the little girls started doing cartwheels,' she recalls. 'I've no idea where the idea came from, but suddenly I thought it would be fun to join in. 'I'm normally too self-conscious even to dance, and I haven't cartwheeled since I was a child — but, with a bottle of prosecco inside me, it seemed a terrific idea. 'So I cartwheeled right across the room before crashing, legs first, into their gorgeous, tastefully-decorated Christmas tree. 'My memory is a bit hazy, but I have vague recollections of baubles flying everywhere and of other guests helping me to my feet, then picking up the tree.' Her husband and children were mortified, and eager to leave, but Tracey insisted she was fine to have another glass of fizz to toast the arrival of the New Year. However, she promptly dropped the crystal flute on the floor, shattering it. 'Steve had never seen me so drunk before,' she says. 'He bundled me out the door practically on the 12th stroke of Big Ben. 'The next day, I felt so rough I just couldn't get up — and then the horrors started. I spotted my Marks & Spencer leather trousers on the floor and thought: "How on earth did I cartwheel in those?" 'Although I couldn't remember doing it, my son George told me I had also embarrassed him by insisting that all the little boys take lessons from me in how to hold and shoot their "Nerf" guns [a foam pellet gun, popular among boys]. 'Until two years ago, I was in the RAF. It's not something I talk about often but that night, apparently, I wanted everyone to know. 'Steve kept asking how much I'd drunk, but I honestly had no idea. I lost track of the refills early on.' Eager to put right the one thing she could repair, Tracey went shopping the next day for a box of two Riedel crystal champagne flutes in replace the one she'd broken. She delivered them, together with an embarrassed apology for her behaviour, to her hosts, who graciously told her not to worry. 'Steve and George gave me a really hard time in the days and weeks that followed, saying we'd never be invited back. 'And sure enough, the next year, although George was still on the rugby team, no invitation arrived.' Tracey admits it came as a relief when she and her family moved 50 miles away to Flintshire, for Steve's new job. She left her position at the school and is currently applying for new roles. Ironically, their new neighbours presented them with a bottle of prosecco as a housewarming gift the day they arrived — and suggested popping over some time to help them drink it. 'It's still in the fridge,' says Tracey. 'I'll never make the mistake of drinking it again. In fact, lest I ever forget, I bought a little plaque which I keep in the kitchen that says "The prosecco made me do it".' While most prosecco has around 11 per cent alcohol content, less than many still whites and reds, the large bubbles of carbon dioxide that make it light and tingly on the tongue also lead to greater intoxication. 'Those bubbles also speed up the absorption of alcohol through the stomach lining — literally pushing it through and into the bloodstream,' says nutritionist Dr Elisabeth Philipps. 'That's the reason why fizzy alcoholic drinks make you drunk faster.' Also, while champagne is still considered an expensive treat and only the most extravagant of hosts could afford to keep it flowing all night, prosecco, retailing at as little as £6 a bottle, is deemed to be an affordable way of keeping everyone well refreshed. Deborah Hodge, an author from Bexleyheath in Kent, is another woman acutely aware of the potency of the tipple. The 43-year-old was at a poetry recital at a pub in the village near Chichester where she was living four years ago when the Italian fizz began flowing. At the time, she was a 39-year-old divorced mother-of-three, whose children were staying with their father. She was working as head of the art department at the local secondary school. During an interval, Deborah got chatting about poetry to the 24-year-old brother of one of her pupils. 'I remember prosecco bottles turning up in ice buckets, one after another. The men were falling over themselves to buy more,' she recalls. 'Eventually there was a lock-in at the pub and I found myself holding court and telling jokes. 'I have no idea how many times my glass was refilled. I can't remember very much about that night at all.' One thing's for sure, she and the younger man hit it off and, when the barman asked everyone to leave, he invited Deborah back to his house, where he lived with his parents and younger brother. 'I must have been very intoxicated to agree to go back to his family home, given the age difference and the fact that his brother was one of my pupils,' says Deborah. She awoke at 7am the next day, utterly disgusted with herself. 'I hoped to sneak out unnoticed, but the rest of the family were already awake,' she says. 'My face was crimson as I let myself out, and then I had to do the walk of shame in my evening dress, the very last thing you expect to be doing after a poetry recital, in what was a very small, gossipy community. 'Of course, news of my overnight stay spread around the school like wildfire.' Although they exchanged phone numbers, in the cold light of day, without prosecco running through their veins, the difference in their ages and circumstances — her a mother of three, him still living at home with his parents — left them in no doubt how unsuited they were and they didn't arrange a second date. But Deborah's one-night-stand was not going to be as easy to forget as she hoped. A few months later, she found herself standing in a toilet cubicle at work staring, aghast, at a positive pregnancy test. 'I was so shocked that every part of my body was shaking,' recalls Deborah. 'I was still shaking when I went back into lessons that afternoon, one of them teaching the brother of my child's father.' As the pregnancy was already quite advanced, Deborah never contemplated abortion. The repercussions of her prosecco-fuelled night were felt far and wide. Her eldest son, who was 16 at the time, refused to speak to her for a week. Likewise, the rest of her family were horrified and chastised her 'like a delinquent teenager'. The only person pleased for her was, to her relief, the baby's father. The couple tried to make a go of their relationship, and were together for Amelia's birth in July 2013. But they separated soon afterwards when they realised they had little in common. 'Changing nappies as a 40-year-old single mother was not in my life plan at all,' says Deborah, who has since given up her teaching job to write novels. 'It's hard, but I wouldn't be without Amelia for the world.' Deborah hasn't touched prosecco since that fateful night — and has no intention of doing so again. 'I used to love sharing a bottle with a girlfriend on one of my rare nights out, but now I know the effect it can have it's lost its appeal.' Another woman who knows the damage prosecco can wreak is 35-year-old mother-of-two Lindsey Brough. She has not dared show her face in the village pub after polishing off a bottle and making a 'complete show' of herself shortly before Christmas last year. Her usual tipple is gin and tonic but, after seeing so many of her girlfriends posting pictures of themselves on social media with glasses of Italian fizz in their hands, she decided to find out what all the fuss was about. Lindsey, who runs a craft and design business from her home in Wrexham, North Wales, was enjoying a rare night out while her daughters were with their dad. When she and her friend sat down for dinner, they discovered that, as well as the prosecco they had purchased, Lindsey's ex, aware of how rarely she went out, had also arranged for a bottle to be put on ice on their table. 'We shared the first bottle with our meal, then, already feeling pretty merry, we decided to drink the second one at the bar,' recalls Lindsey. 'I spotted a guy who'd previously sent me some flirtatious text messages asking me out on a date, and decided to show them to all his pals. 'Then I recognised a man I'd been at primary school with and told him that his nickname used to be "cheesy feet" because of the odour they gave off when we changed for PE. 'The poor soul was so embarrassed and said I must be mixing him up with someone else, but I insisted I wasn't. 'By the time the second bottle was finished, my friend was asleep with her head on the table and I was weeping uncontrollably on the shoulder of an old neighbour about losing my mum, who had passed away 11 years earlier.' Although the bar staff took the liberty of calling them a taxi, Lindsey and her friend set off into the freezing cold night to walk the two miles back to her home, most of it along dark country lanes. Lindsey recalls falling over a number of times, painfully banging her head on one occasion, and then being aware that her purse had fallen from her bag but being too drunk to search for it. Several hours later, they finally made it back to Lindsey's house and fell asleep. At 5.30am, Lindsey woke with a start, still drunk but suddenly eager to retrieve her purse. She persuaded her friend to help her search and, incredibly, they located it in a dark country lane, beside a field of sheep, a mile from Lindsey's home. It was only in the cold light of day that Lindsey realised just how risky her behaviour had been and felt terribly guilty. 'We were so drunk and incapable that anything could have happened to us on our way home,' she says. 'As a mother of children aged just seven and four, it doesn't bear thinking about. 'I'm usually such a sensible person, and have no idea why prosecco affects me in that way. 'I shan't touch it ever again — but that doesn't stop me being haunted by the memories.' This is a feeling all-too-familiar to Tracey Roscoe, who has to switch off the radio whenever a particular song comes on — the one that was playing at the party that night she cartwheeled into the tree. 'I used to love that song,' she says. 'But now I cringe from the tips of my toes to the top of my head, picturing myself being pulled out that Christmas tree. I can't bear even the first few bars.'
Tourism highlights don't always live up to hype. But for some tough critics even the Earth's highest mountain fails to impress. To save you from disappointment, travellers and locals have taken to an online forum to share tips on attractions that aren't worth seeing in person - they range from bustling hubs like Times Square to revered artworks such as the Mona Lisa. A Redditor posted the question 'What is not worth seeing in person?' and 24 hours later it had attracted over 6,000 comments. The top comment, from SmoSays, is the hilariously understated assessment of Mount Everest by his Nepali co-worker who said: 'It's just a big hill!' While most travellers haven't scaled Mount Everest, so can't weigh in on this appraisal, it was man-made attractions that attracted the most vitriol. Redditors warned that New York's Times Square, particularly on New Year's Eve, should be avoided at all costs. They describe experiences of being trapped by crowds with little or no access to bathrooms in the city's biting winter temperatures. Native New Yorker Minimindless shared: 'Twelve am came around, 5,4,3,2,1 and I wanted out! It took about two hours just to leave Times Square. It was horrible and I only enjoyed it when it was over. It's really something to either never do or do once in your life.' Claiming that locals avoid the hotspot on New Year's Eve, Doublestitch said: 'That event is pretty much entirely people from out of town. #I mean really, when you've endured New York City winters at midnight, wouldn't you rather stay indoors at a party or take a taxi to a bar?' New York icon the Empire State Building also took a lashing from the online community. SixFiveSax said: 'Top deck of the Empire State Building. Not worth the money. 'The top deck of Rockefeller Center is much cooler. Part of the reason why is that you can see the Empire State Building from there and the NYC skyline isn't really complete without it.' ZanyD added:' I personally recommend the observatory at World Trade Center. You can see Brooklyn, Ellis Island, the bridges and even Jersey. It's simply beautiful. I definitely think its way cooler than the Empire State Building.' On the West Coast, locals tried to shield tourists from the shock of seeing Hollywood Boulevard in person. Resident According To Me said: 'Hollywood Boulevard is terrible. I've lived here for ten years, and when you've seen it once, you're done. 'My heart sinks a lot when I have to go there for any reason. Tourists are constantly stopping in the middle of the sidewalk to take a picture of one of the Walk of Fame stars. Every souvenir shop is exactly the same. Food and drink is expensive because the prices are marked up for tourists.' Art fans voiced their disappointment when faced with the Mona Lisa located at the Louvre in Paris. Thebloodofthematador said:' The Mona Lisa? About the size of a piece of printer paper, and you already know what it looks like.' Tusangre added: 'You also can't get very close to it and there will always be 100 people crowded around it trying to look at it. 'There's also (or at least there was when I went) a painting the size of the wall directly opposite the Mona Lisa, which is pretty awkward.' Concurring, ChampMcClusky shared: 'Yep, super small. Also, it's by itself on a huge white wall. There are so many other more interesting and complex pieces in the Louvre. And since everyone else is crowding around it, there's a lot of quieter and less crowded exhibits to enjoy!' Another historic highlight that came under scrutiny from hard-to-please travellers was the Sphinx in Egypt. Sirius_55_Polaris said: 'The Sphinx. It's much smaller than I expected and is so damaged that the face is almost gone - although it's right next to the Pyramids of Giza, which definitely are worth seeing!' A tourist favourite for capturing comical photos failed to impress acssarge 555, who commented: ' The Leaning Tower of Pisa. It's pretty cool but yeah it's just a tower that's leaning.' History enthusiasts keen to discover Salem 's gruesome past, meanwhile, were warned to stay away by locals. Massachusetts resident NorthConwayCalvary said: 'I'd say save your time and don't go to Salem... too many hipsters and wanna be "witches" roaming the streets blocking traffic, taking pictures, and just generally being rude. Salem has history, just stay away.' Cheeriocheerio93 added: 'Unless you are a giant history buff it will be no fun for you at all… the witches were never hung in Salem, just the trials. 'If you're a tourist and you ask someone who clearly looks like they live there for directions, they most likely will give you the wrong direction.'
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Kent County's recount team processed half of the ballots cast in the Nov. 8 presidential election before the recount was halted by a federal judge Wednesday night.
But results from 203 recounted precincts indicate some votes by Kent County residents were miscounted in the certified election results.
Recount workers were able process results from the townships of Ada, Algoma, Alpine, Bowne, Byron, Caledonia, Cannon, Cascade, Courtland and Gaines, as well as the cities of Cedar Springs and East Grand Rapids in the two days that the recount progressed.
Because the recount has been halted, it means the certified election results stand.
Judge clears way to end Michigan recount
The half-finished recount revealed the following changes to vote totals in Kent County, according to an analysis by MLive and The Grand Rapids Press:
Donald Trump: + 40 votes
Hillary Clinton: + 16 votes
Gary Johnson: - 2 votes
Darrell Castle: - 2 votes
Jill Stein: + 2 votes
Emidio Mimi Soltysik: 0
Trump won Kent County in the Nov. 8 election, with 148,180 votes to Clinton's 138,683 votes. Johnson received 14,246 votes, Stein received 3,996 votes, Castle received 1,375 votes and Soltysik received 141 votes.
"There aren't many changes, and these would be attributed to invalid write-ins and straight-party voting in precincts," Elections Director Sue deSteiguer said.
When the optical scanning machines read ballots on Election Day, they sort all ballots with write-in candidates into a separate pile. All of the write-in ballots are then reviewed by election workers when the polls close, who count those ballots by hand and record the results.
When a voter chooses a straight-party ticket but then writes in an invalid candidate, state election law requires the vote to go to the candidate of the party they initially chose, deSteiguer said.
For example, if a voter chose to vote a Republican straight-party ticket and wrote in Mickey Mouse for president, the vote would go to Donald Trump.
However, as poll workers reviewed the ballots on election night, some of them did not correctly record votes for presidential candidates on ballots where a voter chose a straight-party ticket but wrote-in an invalid candidate for president, deSteiguer said.
The Kent County recount team was able to process 216 of 491 precincts Tuesday and Wednesday this week -- 13 of which were not able to be recounted.
Michigan has strict laws when it comes to determining if a precinct can be recounted, deSteiguer said.
The seal on one ballot container broke during transport to the Wyoming Police Department where the recount took place. Ballot bags for two other precincts were not sealed correctly, as zip ties were improperly placed on the grommets of the zipper allowing an opening of about one and a half inches, deSteiguer said. For the remaining precincts, the number of ballots in the ballot bag did not match the number of voters in the poll book.
All of these instances mean a precinct can't be recounted.
GOP challenges recount totals as Kent County finishes precincts
As of Thursday, County Clerk Mary Hollinrake did not have an estimate for how much money was spent on two days of recounting. Clerk's office staff spent about 11 hours a day on the recount, and workers spent at least nine hours a day. The Stein campaign will reimburse counties for $125 per precinct recounted.
Hollinrake said she is expecting an approximate $25,000 reimbursement from the Stein campaign, and hopes it will cover the costs the county has spent on the recount.
"We are hoping to get that money," Hollinrake said. "It will be a long time coming. "
Anyone who has been to Disneyland will be well aware of the enthusiastic employees whose similes rarely fade. However, one brave former-character has revealed that working at the park is not as always as wonderful as some of the staff would have you believe. In a new Reddit thread user Ihaveanotheridentity - who used to work as the character Goofy at Disney World Orlando - encourages users to 'ask him anything' about his job. It wasn't long before curious Redditors came forward with their niggling questions about what life in the park was like with their questions prompting hilarious and heartbreaking tales. The original poster appeared to have a positive out look on his job and so users were keen to know why he left. He admitted he was given the boot after having a tussle with another Disney character. He revealed: 'I was fired. Donald Duck was, as usual, being a jerk and wouldn't leave my area because I had signed "Luv, Goofy" right over the bill of a Donald Duck hat. 'He threw a temper tantrum and as I was dragging him across the floor to get him back to his position a little kid ran out from behind the curtain at Pete's Silly Sideshow and we knocked her on her butt. 'The kid was fine and no one complained but Disney didn't really appreciate me dragging the costume on the carpeted floor so they terminated me.' The former Goofy admitted that he had previously moved departments after a heart breaking day at the office. In an extraordinary tale he revealed: 'I was working City Hall one day when two guests came in with two little girls. One was in a wheel chair and the other one looked like she had just seen death. 'The two women were actually nurses from a hospital and were asking for a refund on the girl's tickets, something we avoided doing at all costs. When I asked why they told me the story. 'The two girls were with their mom and dad at Epcot and on the way home they got into a horrible car accident. The mother was beheaded right in front of them. The father eventually died too but the two girls didn't know that yet. 'They were from overseas and had no money and no contact information for anyone they knew. They were bringing the tickets back to get the girls some much needed money to help get them back home. 'My heart absolutely sunk. If you had seen these girls you'd know why. They were truly traumatized. I refunded their tickets and got permission to be their private tour guide for the rest of the day.' The original poster goes on to reveal that he, and the other employees spent the rest of the day making the two girls days as magical as possible. His story prompted other Reddit users to come forward with their stories of extraordinary kindness shown to them by Disney workers. User mrsjarpx revealed: 'There is one older gentleman Bud, who changed my life. He held me while I cried and he cried with me about me recently deceased son.' Opie59 shared her story adding: 'We brought my son there for his make a wish trip and everyone was so incredible to us. 'They saw that button and just gave us the world. He still talks about it all the time, which for a 3 year old is a feat.' In a lighter side to the thread many were keen to find out more about what it was like to wear a character costume hot day - particuarly in hot weather. The original poster revealed: 'It was absolute torture the first month (and especially the first parade) but after a few months I got used to it and after a few years I would forget I had the costume on.' He adds: 'We are NOT ALLOWED TO EVER TALK IN COSTUME IN FRONT OF GUESTS. EVER. 'Backstage however, anything goes. I used to love telling dirty jokes to unsuspecting new hires. I do have a good Goofy laugh but it took me years to perfect.' Another Reddit user who used to also play Goofy came forward with their solution as to what happens if a costume breaks or comes loose. Goofy2016 said: 'If any part of your costume starts to get loose, you are to place one hand over "your" eye. 'Your character attendant says, "Goofy, do you have something in your eye? " You nod, and your character attendant escorts you offstage to fix the problem. Of course, this is the ideal situation.'
Britain's biggest lottery winners have sold the mansion they bought shortly after scooping their £161 million jackpot. Euromillions winners Colin and Christine Weir sold Knock House, in Ayrshire, after spending years renovating the property. The couple bought the home, which has a walled garden and views over the Firth of Clyde, for £850,000 in August 2011 - just a month after their win. However, now they have decided to sell-up after buying Frognal House in Troon for more than £3million. Knock House, which has five bedrooms and a three-bedroom gatehouse on the estate for guest accommodation, was put up for sale by estate agents Savills earlier this year for offers over £795,000. It has been sold to an overseas trust in a £1.4 million deal which also involved the purchase of other properties on the surrounding Knock Castle estate. During their time at the property, Mr Weir, 69, a retired cameraman for STV and his wife, 60, a former psychiatric nurse, converted old potting sheds in the grounds into a wine cellar and tasting room, a meeting room and an office. The sales brochure for the property read: 'Knock House is a superbly presented country house in a beautiful and private rural setting. 'The whole property has been completely refurbished and embellished using flair and imagination as well as the best materials and tradesmen around. Nothing has been left to chance including electronic entrance gates... and state-of-the-art security systems. 'In the main house the rooms are bright and where possible take full advantage of the great views. It has a beautiful new kitchen, sun room and three new bathrooms.' The property also has a stable with two paddocks and a jumping field. The Weirs set up a charitable trust to donate some of their fortune to good causes following their win. The Weir Charitable Trust has given away more than £6 million to good causes, including buying a clubhouse for Routenburn Golf Club in Largs, upgrading a care home and giving sponsorship to a number of talented youngsters. Mr Weir, a football fan, helped to refurbish the grounds of Largs Thistle junior football club and gave more than £1 million to Partick Thistle so they could establish a youth academy and clear debts. Last month it was revealed the couple had donated £1 million to the National Theatre of Scotland to help them a new headquarters in Glasgow. The couple have also funded the campaign for Scottish independence. Mr Weir helped to film party political broadcasts for the SNP in the 1980s and stood for the party in the Ayr constituency, coming fourth, in 1987.
Donald Trump aide Kellyanne Conway joked Friday morning that superstars Bruno Mars and Justin Timberlake should call her directly if they're willing to play for the presidential inauguration next month. 'Shhhh!' Trump's campaign manager mugged at the camera on 'Fox & Friends,' responding to a parting question from co-host Steve Doocy. 'Yes! You'll be the third to know, Steve. They can call me, by the way.' And then with a thumbs-up and a wink directed at the singers, she exclaimed: 'Call me!' Trump's inaugural committee is hoping to attract some star power to the presidential inauguration in January, but efforts are reportedly coming up short. 'They are willing to pay anything,' one insider said. 'They told me, "We'll pay their fees. " Most of these artists' fees are in the six to seven figures.' Two sources told the publication that members of the Trump inaugural committee contacted them and offered cash, or even a government appointment, to get talent to come to the late January affair. An inaugural committee spokesman denied it all. 'No one with any official position at, or official relationship with, the Presidential Inaugural Committee, is engaging in the conduct described,' said Boris Epshteyn.
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AP) - Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Friday that the United States will stick with Afghanistan for years to come as a new U. S. president takes over what is already America's longest war. In a joint appearance In Kabul with Afghanistan's president, Ashraf Ghani, Carter said the U. S. cannot afford to give up on Afghanistan after more than 15 years of U. S. involvement, the deaths of more than 2,200 U. S. troops, and the expenditure of hundreds of billions of dollars. "The interests we are pursuing here are clear and enduring," he said, citing the goals of preventing another 9/11-type of attack on American soil and helping Afghanistan attain enough stability to remain a long-term security partner for the U. S. and the West. The war began as a response to the 9/11 attacks. "To have a stable security partner that is eager and willing to work with the United States is an asset for the future for us," Carter said. Carter was making his last planned trip to Afghanistan before handing off his Defense Department responsibilities to his successor. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated retired Marine Gen. James Mattis for the post. Trump has not said if or how he will alter the U. S. course in Afghanistan, but has denounced what he calls U. S. nation-building projects. The U. S. has about 10,000 troops in Afghanistan to train and advise Afghan security forces combatting a resilient Taliban insurgency. U. S. special operations forces are hunting down al-Qaida and Islamic State militants. Carter's visit comes amid concerns that despite improvements in Afghan government defenses, Taliban forces are gaining leverage and are continuing to use neighboring Pakistan as a sanctuary. By U. S. estimates, the Afghan government controls slightly less than two-thirds of the country's population. The Taliban holds sway over about 10 percent, and the remainder of the population is "contested. " The top US commander in Afghanistan said Friday "the fundamental logic" of the U. S. counterterrorism mission is solid, suggesting it should continue after the change of administrations. "Our policy of having an enduring counterterrorism effort alongside Afghan partners is, in my view, very sound - something that we need to continue," Army Gen. John Nicholson told a news conference in Bagram. Appearing alongside Nicholson, Carter said that having "a stable security partner that is eager and willing to work with the United States is an asset for the future for us. " U. S. commanders have praised Afghan soldiers for taking the lead in battles against the less-well equipped Taliban, but they have been suffering heavy casualties. Before Carter's arrival, his press secretary, Peter Cook, said Carter wanted to get a full rundown on operations. He said Carter would discuss "the growing capabilities and resilience demonstrated by Afghan security forces in recent months," as well as efforts to build "Afghan combat capacity including aviation. " President Barack Obama had planned to reduce U. S. troop numbers to about 1,000 by the time he left office in January, but he scrapped that approach in the face of Taliban gains. Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
On 8 October, an 18-year-old man from the Jordanian city of Madaba was charged with killing his sister as she slept after allegedly finding her with a mobile phone the family didn't know about. Five days later, two brothers were charged with murdering their sisters aged 27 and 34 at a farm on the outskirts of Jordan's capital, Amman.
The victims were among five women killed during one week in Jordan for reasons related to family "honour". Thirty-eight women have been victims of "honour" killings this year. The country typically reports between 15 and 20 such crimes a year , according to Human Rights Watch.
Women's rights activists have used the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, which ends on Saturday, to call for stronger penalties against the perpetrators of "honour" crimes and to end the practice of imprisoning women at risk of being killed for their own protection.
In Jordan, women considered to be at risk can be detained indefinitely under the country's 1954 Crime Prevention Law. Some spend years in prison before being granted release, which usually requires signed assurances from their families that they will not be harmed.
"It's actually a violation of the constitution because freedom of movement is a constitutional right," said Hadeel Abdul Aziz, executive director at the Justice Centre for Legal Aid in Jordan .
A 2014 report by Dignity, the Danish Institute Against Torture, on Conditions for Women in Detention in Jordan described how some women have resorted to "extreme and degrading measures, such as marrying men who have raped them in order to be released".
"These are the saddest stories of all," said Asma Khader, executive director of the Sisterhood Is Global Institute's (Sigi) Jordan chapter, which provides legal, financial and psychosocial support to women in administrative detention. "Instead of protecting and supporting her, she is threatened [by relatives] as a person who has brought shame on the family and, in some cases, forced to marry her attacker."
For many women in protective custody, marriage is the only route to release. Asheel, 30, spent seven months in detention after fleeing violent abuse at home. "At first being in prison seemed better than the beatings, but I was always afraid and there was nothing there to distract me from the worry. My options were to stay in prison or be married, so I preferred to marry. A lot of other girls did the same."
Asheel's husband is poor and they have little to live on, but he treats her and their children well. "I am happy now but I want all this to be deleted from my memory. I don't wish any woman to face what has happened to me in my life."
Sigi regularly visits women in protective custody at the Juweida women's correctional and rehabilitation centre, to try to broker their release. This involves working with government bodies and families.
If the risk is from the father or brother, Sigi approaches family members who can influence them and prevent any attack.
"Unfortunately, we are not a forgiving society. For men particularly, the sense of shame lingers," said Rana Sundos, programme and activities manager at Sigi. She added that "honour" crimes have sometimes been committed many years after a woman's release. She recalls the sad outcome of a case involving a teenage girl who was placed in protective custody after the family threatened to kill her. She had become pregnant following an alleged assault.
"While she was in prison, the family came to the governor and signed a letter promising not to kill her, and she was released into their care. Within a few days, the brother had carried out the crime." He bowed to pressure from relatives, said Sundos. "He told us: inside I loved my sister, she was the youngest, the fruit of our family. I didn't want to kill her, but they said if you want to be a man, you must."
A petition launched by the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) last month to "stop murder crimes committed against women and girls" outlined the need for legal reform. It highlighted articles 340 and 98 of the penal code, which grant judges discretion to reduce sentences for the perpetrators of "honour" crimes in mitigating circumstances – including adultery and crimes committed in a fit of anger. The petition also called for an end to the detention of women for protective purposes.
"The presence of these articles contributes to the continuation of social attitudes that view the body of women as a vessel for family honour," said Salma Nims, the JNCW's secretary general.
Last week the country's Iftaa' Department, which is responsible for religious decrees, issued a fatwa for the first time, prohibiting the murder of women in the name of "honour".
The government has also announced plans to open a shelter in which women can stay for protection, rather than go to jail. "We realise that these women deserve a better place to stay in than prison, and that is why we are opening a shelter for them," Mohammad Ensour, director of the human rights and family affairs department at the justice ministry told the Jordan Times.
"We welcome this development, but the most important thing is to keep the location secret," said Khader. While lives have been saved and many women released as a result of Sigi's efforts, these women, she said, "are only partly free, because they can never walk outside without the fear that someone who knows them will be in the street".
* Names have been changed to protect identities
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Drivers could see trouble on the roads after snow fell overnight and continues to fall in some areas of Western Washington, mostly in the North Sound.
5:45 a.m. The Washington State Department of Transportation reports at least a dusting of snow on the roads on many side streets, especially in Whatcom, Skagit, and Island counties.
5:35 a.m. The National Weather Service says temperatures around Seattle are climbing and snow can be heard falling from the trees.
5:20 a.m.
KIRO 7's Kelly Franson says as she was driving north from Seattle this morning she saw five spinouts on I-5.
Though snow is still lightly coming down in Seattle, it's sticking more to the roads north of the city.
KIRO Radio's Chris Sullivan says the South Everett area received 3-4 inches of snow. He says there was snow on the road until around Northgate.
Over on the Eastside, KIRO 7's Jeff DuBois reports either bare conditions, or slush on the roads.
The National Weather Service says snow will turn to rain around Seattle by 6 a.m. Northern portions of the Seattle metro area and Everett may change over slightly later.
Up to an inch of rain is possible before the change over to rain.
JACKSON, MI - With stagnate revenue growth and increasing costs throughout Jackson County, the board of commissioners considered hiring a grant writer for two years during Tuesday's study session.
After conversing on the issue, the commissioners decided to delay their decision until the Dec. 20 meeting, allowing the agenda item to go through the committee process.
The county earned $6 million in grants in 2015 - including public and private donations.
"Oftentimes I hear from department heads that they struggle to maintain and apply for grants," said Administrator/Controller Mike Overton. "It's not that certain grants aren't available, but at the end of the day, we've cut personnel and there's still the job to be done. "
The grant writer's salary would fall in the $50,368 to $58,821 range, totaling $71,541.17 with the benefits package included.
The employee wouldn't be solely responsible for all grants, but would work with department heads and elected officials to seek, write and administer grants. With many employees already working 50-hour weeks, Overton said having a point person for grants may help bring the county more funding across the board.
"There's been times in my career where I've looked at a grant and said, 'Geez, I'm not sure it's worth the paperwork, frankly,'" Overton said.
The position would be a two-year trial. If the board of commissioners decide the benefits don't outweigh the costs, the position would be cut.
Catch up with the cheetah, the world's fastest land animal, on a wildlife tour to Namibia that explores regions where the endangered animals live.
Marcy Mendelson, a conservation photographer and National Geographic contributor, will lead the 13-day trip available one time only in summer. Game drives take participants to private land and national reserves.
There also will be visits to Sossusvlei, where desert lovers can hike one of the tallest sand dunes in the world; and to Fury Road, where the "Mad Max" movie was shot. Participants will visit Palmwag along the way, tracking rhino, and search for cheetah in Etosha National Park.
Botanical wonders abound in the wild Sonoran Desert of Organ Pipe National Monument and Saguaro National Park. Just mind the heat. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
The next president will find a Washington, D. C., that's dramatically different from the city Barack Obama saw at his inauguration in 2009, or even the one in 2013. Museums and hotels, new and renewed. Restaurants left and right. Lower crime and rising neighborhoods, too.
Motif. No. 1 might look like a modest fishing shack on the waterfront of Rockport, Mass., but there's more to it. This two-minute video tells the tale.
A selection of photos submitted by readers from their summer travels. See more
Our reporter drove all 469 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs through Virginia and North Carolina.
Our reporter drove all 469 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs through Virginia and North Carolina.
A cat has been given the purrr-fect solution to her asthma - a specially adapted inhaler. Moggie Matilda was diagnosed with the breathing condition after suffering from severe coughing fits and now uses an inhaler twice a day. The 12-year-old puss, who lives with owner Kathryn Hoskins in Rudheath, Cheshire, has a special adapter for the inhaler and even has to collect her prescription from the local pharmacy. Kathryn, 54, said she was 'shocked' to find out Matilda had asthma - which only affects between one and five per cent of the feline population. She said: 'I was quite taken aback when I was told she had asthma and I had no idea how we were going to treat it.' Kathryn got Matilda when she was just six months old, but she didn't develop a cough until she was nine years old. Over the last year, the cough became increasingly worse and the poor puss was rushed to the vets. Kathryn said: 'Matilda would get more and more distressed with every coughing fit and so we took her to the Holly House Veterinary Surgery. 'She had lots of tests including biopsies and had a camera down into her lungs. 'That was when I found out she had asthma.' Matilda was told she needed an inhaler, but it could be specially adapted to fit over her little face. She added: 'I did wonder how we were going to give her an inhaler, and when she first started having it she was really confused. 'But because of the special adapter, it's exactly the same method as if you were giving an inhaler to a baby. 'We even go to the local chemist to pick it up, it's quite funny to think our cat has her own human prescription at the pharmacy. 'Now she knows what's coming she's really good, and she gets a little treat afterwards as well.' Thankfully, the inhaler has made the world of difference and the puss ventures outside more than she used to. Vet Ian Hopkins, who works at Holly House Veterinary Surgery in Knutsford - part of Willows Veterinary Group - said Matilda had to have a lot of tests to rule out any other problems. Ian said: 'If cats have a cough, asthma is a potential cause in many cases but tests are needed to exclude other causes. 'Matilda has had X-rays, a bronchoscopy and a lung wash. 'The tests showed a marked to moderate eosinophilic cell population - eosinophils are the cells we would associate with allergy, ie feline asthma.' He added: 'Matilda first started coughing three years ago, but it became more noticeable in the last 12 months and needed treating. 'Steroids are often used but these affect the whole body, can lead to weight gain and can predispose to diabetes, poor wound healing and reduced immunity to infectious diseases. 'The inhaler is ideal for Matilda as she can breathe in the steroid drug formulation and it can act on the lung tissue stopping the asthma reaction, yet it does not enter the bloodstream and affect the rest of the body, minimising side effects. 'Matilda is also on pain killers for osteoarthritis which systemic steroids (oral tablets/injections) cannot be given alongside. 'On inhaled medication, she can continue her painkillers without any drug interactions worrying her, her owners or me as a vet.'
VIENNA (AP) - A spokeswoman for the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra says the famed ensemble plans to return a valuable French Neo-Impressionist painting looted by the Nazis to relatives of its original Jewish owner. Claudia Kapsamer said Friday that the oil painting by Paul Signa will be handed over to Marcel Koch's relatives in about three weeks. A Nazi police official gave the orchestra Signa's "Port-en-Bessin" in 1940 for its performances in occupied France. The painting's estimated value is around $500,000, or more than 470,000 euros. The orchestra purged Jewish members and closely cooperated with Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and other top Hitler associates after Germany's 1938 annexation of Austria. It has worked in recent years to research and reveal its Nazi past and to make amends. Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The replica All-Terrain Armored Transport vehicle was put together over the space of a month in Furze's backyard in the UK.
Standing at 5.5 meters (17ft) tall, the awesome design boasts all of the exterior details of the legendary quadruped combat machine.
READ MORE: Dazzling 'Deathstar': Inventor blows 5,000 fireworks in 20 seconds (VIDEO)
An automated stepladder complete with dry ice allows access into the belly of the beast where you can find the 'cock-pit' boasting a games console and controls for the head and guns of the AT-AT.
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There is also plenty of room inside to store 'Star Wars' paraphernalia, including nerf guns and Stormtrooper masks.
With the brand new movie 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' set for global release in the coming days, Furze's invention is sure to get everyone in the mood.
That said, it might make for some disappointed kids come Christmas. Pretty tricky fitting that toy down the chimney.
AMONA, West Bank (AP) — Facing a court-ordered evacuation, residents of the Jewish settlement outpost of Amona in the West Bank are digging in for a fight to the finish. Vowing fierce but nonviolent resistance, they have built shelters,
She's a regular at London's chicest and glitziest soirees. So it came as no surprise to see Laura Whitmore at the Lulu Guinness & Jasmine Guinness celebrate Christmas with friends party, held at the Upstairs bar in London on Wednesday. Looking effortlessly chic for the event, the 31-year-old presenter was joined by the likes of actress Olivia Grant. Scroll down for video Clad in a yellow checkered shirt, the former Strictly Come Dancing contestant ensured all eyes would be on her for the occasion. Sheer in design, the garment flashed a glimpse of her black bralet, but was fastened to the neck to remain demure. She teamed the blouse with a pair of black leggings, whilst she added some height to her frame in a pair of heeled ankle boots. Laura styled her golden locks poker straight in a centre parting that framed her pretty features and cascaded past her shoulders. Ensuring her natural beauty shone through she opted for a light dusting of bronzer and matte powder whilst her baby blue eyes were lined with mascara. She finished off the look with a slick of glossy red lipstick that matched her glittering clutch bag. Laura has been taking advantage of the social scene since being voted off Strictly Come Dancing last month. But following her exit, the television personality has been plagued by rumours that she and professional dance partner Giovanni Pernice had fallen out. Insiders close to the beauty and her dance partner disagree about the source of the tension between Giovanni and Laura. In an explosive insight into their working relationship, a source told MailOnline that Laura sent abusive text messages to the Italian dancer in which she undermined his ballroom skills. A spokesperson for the Irish star has since told MailOnline: 'Laura did not send abusive texts and is very hurt by these accusations.' But a source close to Giovanni said: 'Laura made Giovanni's life hard, but he
A British holidaymaker has died after plunging from the third floor of his Costa del Sol hotel. The 51-year-old, named locally as Mark Woodward, was staying with his girlfriend at the two-star Hostal El Cid in the popular tourist town of Fuengirola when he fell. It happened at around 3.30pm yesterday. It is thought his unnamed partner was in the room with him at the time. The results of a post-mortem which was due to take place this morning/yesterday morning (FRI) have not been made public. No-one from the hostal which has themed rooms based on different figures from world history including Julius Caesar and Karl Marx, was available for comment. Police are still investigating but say there is nothing to indicate the death was the result of a crime. The nationality of the dead man's partner, who is he only thought to have started dating recently, is not known. In June 2011 Swedish tourist Sandra Eleonora Karlsson, 19, was stabbed to death at the hostal a five-minute walk from the beach by a 30-year-old Moroccan immigrant. The Swedish friend she was sharing a room with was injured in the sexually-motivated attack after trying to defend herself. The female pair had travelled to Spain and checked into the hostal for the second year running to celebrate the end of the academic year. A worker at the hostal managed to wrestle the knife from the attacker's hand with the help of an off-duty police after the injured teenager raised the alarm. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison in February 2014.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court struck down a state law Thursday that denies bail to criminal defendants who cannot prove they are legally present in the U. S. ...
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The youth treatment center where police say a teenager brutally killed a staff member while trying to escape is a working cattle ranch in southern Utah that hasn't previously had...
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — In a story Dec. 6 about the University of Illinois' decision not to designate its campuses a sanctuary for immigrants, The Associated Press reported that about 1,500 Illinois co ...
A recent study further underscores the relationship between earthquake rates and saltwater disposal volumes from oil and natural gas production. The research found that the seismic energy released in the past eight years of vastly increased wastewater disposal is equivalent to "more than 1,900 years of naturally occurring energy." ...
She's the Australian actress who has appeared in US sitcom Two and a Half Men and General Hospital. And Alicia Hannah, 29, was the picture of elegance while posing alongside her Vampire Diaries star husband Sebastian Roché, 52, at a movie premiere in West Hollywood on Thursday. The Sydney-born personality showed off her trim pins in a flirty lace frock at the event, which celebrated the second season of The Man In The High Castle. Scroll down for video Alicia highlighted her slimline figure in a black and white minidress, which sat mid-thigh. Bell sleeves added an extra feminine touch, while stitching just under the bust drew attention to her slender waist. Adding a pop of colour with a pair of pointy-toed fuchsia suede heels, Alicia accessorised further with a black zip-up clutch, green drop earrings and her sparkling wedding rings. Parting her dark tresses at the side and styling in glamorous curls, the White Collar Blue star opted for bold makeup. A flawless complexion, defined brows, kohl-rimmed eyes and a matte pink lip finished off the look. Alicia accompanied her French actor husband Sebastian, who stars in the second season of the Emmy Award-winning drama series. Sebastian cut a suave figure in a deep purple tailored suit, that featured a coordinating vest underneath. A crisp white shirt and slim black tie was paired with the look, along with simple black dress shoes. The star, known for roles in Vampire Diaries and Supernatural, beamed for the cameras as he embraced his stunning wife.
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The PlayStation 4 version of Ark: Survival Evolved launches today on PlayStation 4. As announced previously, the $55 game comes to PS4 in the form of the Survivor's Pack,...
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Why buy games on day one anymore? A newly planned set of updates for Final Fantasy XV won't just fix bugs, they'll add story cutscenes and improve the game's slow-paced thirteenth chapter by adding more powers to Noctis's repertoire. "We want you to enjoy Final Fantasy XV for a long time to come," writes director Hajime Tabata on the Square Enix blog today. "We have been ...
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Over the last decade, we've seen huge steps in technology development, from the growth and expansion of gaming to the global domination of the touch screen mobile phone. Constant refinement and improvement as we aim to improve interaction with technology, to improve immersion and to make gaming ever more visceral. In terms of gaming input devices, a wheel is to driving what an...
Paragon, Epic's strikingly beautiful action-MOBA, has been overhauled in the Monolith update, announced last month. According to lead hero designer Cameron Winston in the trailer for the update, "the Monolith Update is not just a new map, it's actually a new gameplay experience." The attached blog post backs that up, claiming it has "faster, more action-oriented gameplay, but ...
Twitch and President Obama's administration have just announced the White House Competitive Gaming Event, a gaming marathon that will be livestreamed direct from the White House. It will include a mix of casual games played in a competitive manner as well as a selection of eSports titles to kick things up a notch. The White House Competitive Gaming Event kicks off next Monday,...
A British tourist was left paralysed after a Spanish bus driver crashed in a torrential downpour despite twice being told to slow down by passengers. Holidaymaker Tina Campbell, 51, was left in intensive care with a damaged spinal cord and severe injuries to her back following a bus crash just outside Barcelona. The mother-of-three is still in hospital after being flown back to the UK for treatment and faces the prospect of being in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Her husband Paul Campbell claims passengers were pleading with the driver to slow down just moments before the crash because of the treacherous conditions. The 52-year-old believes the horror smash could have been avoided if the driver had listened. Speaking about the incident, Mr Campbell said: 'We were sat in the middle of the bus and had both been woken up to the screams and the coach swerving before the crash. 'When we got to the hospital, two Irish girls said they had told the driver to slow down twice before the crash. 'They said he just wanted to get to the airport - and didn't care about the heavy rain. 'He wasn't found to be speeding, but he was driving too fast for the conditions of the road - as far as we know there was no other vehicle involved.' Asked if he thought the driver was in a rush to get to the airport, Mr Campbell replied: 'It seems that way - but the authorities seem to say that he wasn't speeding.' The couple had spent 10 days in Barcelona, exploring the city while staying in the Malgrat de Mar area of the Catalonia sub-state. Mr Campbell said everything about the holiday went smoothly until their bus journey back to El Prat airport on September 14 of this year, when rain began to teem down throughout the ride. The couple from Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, had both only just fallen asleep before being awoken to screams from fellow passengers. The coach snaked from side-to-side before toppling sideways onto the carriageway shortly after leaving Lloret de Mar resort. Mr and Mrs Campbell were both flung out of their seats, leaving them both seriously injured. Describing his initial reaction, Mr Campbell said: 'I can't really remember anything at the time - but my first thought was to find Tina. 'We both just remember the screams and the coach swerving before the crash itself - and then flipping onto its side - the opposite side we were at.' The crash, which happened 46 miles from the centre of the city, injured 24 passengers. The driver passed a drink and drugs test, while his coach firm are thought to have told police investigators he wasn't going too fast and are said to have passed them a tachograph reading to prove it. Pictures from the crash scene showed the vehicle on its side on a grass verge by the road. Heavy rain was initially blamed for the accident, which led to the closure of part of the ring road for more than two hours. Mrs Campbell was left with a catalogue of severe injuries including damage to her spinal cord, a punctured lung, broken shoulder blades, broken ribs, injuries to her vertebrae and a head injury. Asked what he thought about the future, Mr Campbell said: 'I go see Tina twice a week and at weekends - but because she is 80 miles away it is all affecting the family. 'But it's putting a real strain on my business partner, while I'm having to juggle everything else - because we obviously worked together.' The crash hospitalised Mrs Campbell, who was in intensive care for four days before remaining in hospital for six more days in Spain. She was transferred to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, where she is still receiving treatment and undergoing rehabilitation three months later. Mr Campbell, who owns a mortgage/finance advisory firm with his wife, said: 'This clearly wasn't the ending to our holiday that we expected when we boarded the coach transfer to the airport. 'Our lives have been completely changed by the injuries that Tina has sustained. 'As we had fallen asleep we are unaware as to exactly how the initial events unfolded that caused the coach to crash. 'It was absolutely terrifying with Tina being in hospital and having to spend time in intensive care. 'Since returning to the UK, Tina is still in hospital undergoing further treatment and constant physiotherapy.' The father-of-three added: 'We just hope that anyone who knows what happened will get in touch to help our legal team with their investigation.' Mr Campbell said there are signs that his wife is making improvements - last week she said she had 'some feeling' in one foot. But he also added that it could take months for any other signs and doctors are not giving them any indication as to whether Mrs Campbell might walk again. Philip Banks, a specialist legal expert at Sheffield-based Irwin Mitchell representing the couple, said: 'The crash has left Tina with very severe injuries and the couple were obviously terrified by their ordeal. 'We are now investigating the cause of the crash as we seek to help support them both through their recovery. 'We would like to speak with anyone else who was involved or witnessed this crash as they may be able to help with our investigations into what happened to cause the coach to crash.'
Scroll down for video With a crowd of fans gathering behind him, the British star emulated the role of the vain local personality - who lives near to Paddington and the Browns - as he fixed his shirt in place. Hugh donned a brown check waistcoat and matching trousers, which were tucked into deep plum-coloured knee high socks. Completing the ensemble was a tailored blazer and brown lace-up shoes as he battled to keep warm against the bitter London chill with leather gloves and a baker boy hat. The star sported brown-rimmed spectacles, but forewent them when filming for the animated comedy flick commenced for the first time last week. Hugh was joined by his co-star Peter Capaldi, who is reprising his role of the mean-spirited Mr. Curry. The Scottish actor was dressed in navy trousers, matching overcoat, a retro V-neck jumper, shirt and tie, and a high-visibility vest. The sequel follows on from the hugely popular 2014 film, and it sees Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) now happily settled with the Brown family and a popular member of the local community. The lovable bear picks up a series of odd jobs to buy the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy's 100th birthday, only for the gift to be stolen - leading to some very unfortunate circumstances. Meanwhile, Hugh was all smiles on Thursday night as he picked up the Best Actor trophy for his flick Florence Foster Jenkins at London's Claridge's Hotel. He arrived with his partner Anna Elisabet Eberstein, who is mother to two of Hugh's four children - John, three and an eight-month-old daughter - and looked chic in a leopard print frock and black suede ankle boots. Florence Foster Jenkins, which is directed The Stephen Frears and also stars Meryl Streep, sees Hugh play the opera singer's manager and husband St. Clair Bayfield. In fact the actor, who is also father to Tabitha, four, and Felix, two, with former lover Tinglan Hong, says the brilliance of the film's script tempted him to come out of 'semi-retirement.' He told Vanity Fair : 'For a few years, I thought I was putting show business behind me. I was busy doing other things in life, particularly with politics. I was not out looking for films really. I lost interest. 'The scripts I was receiving were not satisfying. But [director] Stephen [Frears] presented me with the script, which to my great surprise was moving and funny. 'It's a complex, nuanced part for me. Although I wasn't particularly immersed in show business at that point in my life, I felt I would be no kind of man if I said no.'
By Emily Wither GAINSBOROUGH, England, Dec 9 (Reuters) - With Christmas music blaring, staff at English fancy dress company Smiffys are stuffing elf outfits and Santa Claus suits into boxes to send to clients across Europe. Before long, the headquarters of the 122-year-old family business will be heading to the Netherlands too - a sign of how uncertainty over Britain's exit from the European Union is forcing some companies to rethink their plans. The company, based in Lincolnshire, central England, says it has been badly hit by the fall of the pound since Britons voted for Brexit in June, because it imports most of its products from manufacturers in China. Smiffys, which says it exports to 42 countries and has an annual turnover of 56 million pounds ($70.5 million), is also concerned about the lack of clarity on when Britain will trigger the divorce process from the EU and whether companies will be able to access the bloc's tariff-free single market post-Brexit. "We cannot afford to wait on a wing and a prayer for the government to negotiate something," said Director Elliott Peckett. "If there are no deals in place prior to us pulling out then we will be faced with exporting 30-40 percent of our sales to Europe, which will carry a tariff that will make us uncompetitive. " He declined to say when the firm would shift its base to the Netherlands. It is also opening a distribution site in Germany next week, and has offices in Australia and the United States. Smiffys currently employs dozens of non-British EU nationals among its 250 staff in the UK, and Peckett complained at the lack of clarity from members of parliament or the government about whether they would have the right to stay. "We've had absolutely no commitment from any MPs or government agencies or bodies to say the jobs of those people are safe and that they can continue to live and work in the UK. " ($1 = 0.7933 pounds) (Writing by Patrick Johnston in London; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Bruno Mars , Sting and The Weeknd have been booked to perform on Tuesday's 2-hour season finale of The Voice .
The high-profile, musical performances will lead up to the crowning of the show's Season 11 winner. The finalists are the aspiring singers Josh Gallagher from Team Adam, Billy Gilman from Team Adam, Sundance Head from Team Blake or We' McDonald from Team Alicia.
The competition series is hosted by Carson Daly , with Adam Levine , Blake Shelton , Miley Cyrus and Alicia Keys serving as coaches.
After months of speculation, Cheryl all but confirmed she is expecting when she wore a tight knitted dress to attend a carol concert with her boyfriend Liam Payne. If the bump clearly visible beneath her clinging dress hadn't given the game away in London last week, the 33-year-old's radiant smile might have done the trick. Now an expert midwife has said the 5ft2in singer - who recently learned that twins run in her family - could find herself with a far bigger bump to show off, as her tiny frame will cause it to protrude outwards as the baby grows. The petite pop star's diminutive height means there is less room between her pelvis and her ribs to accommodate a 'neat' bump - leaving it to expand outwards from the body. 'Cheryl is only 5ft2in and it's not uncommon for shorter women to have slightly larger bumps,' says Cheshire-based midwife Emily Street, an expert in hypnobirthing and holistic therapies. 'Putting it simply, ladies with shorter torsos have less room between the pelvis and the ribs for the uterus to grow, so bumps expand outwards instead. 'With taller ladies you might see neater, smaller bumps,' she adds. 'I heard one old wives' tale about how shorter women find it harder to give birth, but there's no scientific reason why this should be the case,' she says. 'Generally, a woman's baby is the right size for her.' As for whether a bump can give any clues as to the gender of the imminent arrival, the seasoned midwife for the Reproductive Health Group in Cheshire, is quick to dismiss such suggestions as 'myths'. 'There are plenty of myths out there about how the way you carry your baby can give an indication as to the sex, with popular theories like how having a bump which spreads over your hips means you're having a boy,' she says. 'But in reality, it is very difficult to draw any firm conclusions about the child simply from looking at the shape or position of the bump.' Cheryl recently appeared in an episode of the BBC show Who Do You Think You Are? in which it was revealed twins run in the stars family. 'As we don't know how far along Cheryl is, it's impossible to say from looking at her bump where she's expecting more than one,' Emily says. 'A woman having multiple births will usually have a much bigger bump, as you'd expect. 'But having twins doesn't mean your bump will be twice its normal size.' The midwife, herself a mother of four, encourages new mothers to ingest the placenta in capsule form after giving birth - as celebrity mums like Kim Kardashian and Coleen Rooney have talked of doing. So will Cheryl be the fad's latest high-profile proponent? Emily, a specialist in 'placenta encapsulation' says: 'During and after a vaginal delivery a woman can lose between 1/8 and 1/10 of her body's blood supply. 'Losing a large amount of blood so quickly can lead to things like anaemia, leaving new mums feeling tired and faint,' she said. 'The placenta contains incredibly rich meaty iron, amino acids and essential fats, providing what I consider the perfect replenishment after the trauma of childbirth. 'Women who have chosen to consume their own placenta have reported a healthier milk supply, reduced stress levels, and the reduction of post birth bleeding. 'It's no wonder so many high-profile figures are choosing to go down this road.'
YouTube video, recorded secretly and anonymously, posted Tuesday shows a professor at a Costa Mesa, California community college regaling her captive classroom audience with radical opinions about the presidential election a month ago, which apparently didn't go her way.
Orange Coast College psychology professor Olga Perez Stable Cox labeled Donald Trump's victory "an act of terrorism" and seems to be suggesting that he is a "white supremacist" and Vice President-elect Mike Pence is "one of the most anti-gay humans in this country." She tells her students that the difficult thing about the election loss is that the people who caused the "assault are among us," as if Trump supporters are the enemy within.
She went on to talk about how relieved she is to live in progressive California, which is "one of the best states." Then she mentions that she is going to discuss skills for "coping" with the election loss.
Below is the video transcription, provided by Huffington Post , of all places:
"… white supremacist and a vice president that is one of the most anti-gay humans in this country. And so we are in for a difficult time but again I do believe that we can get past that. Our nation is divided, we have been assaulted, it's an act of terrorism.
"One of the most frightening things for me and most people in my life is that the people creating the assault are among us. It is not some stranger from some other country coming and attacking our sense of what it means to be an American and the things that we stand for and that makes it more painful because I'm sure that all of us have people in our families and our circle of friends that are part of that movement and it is very difficult – we are way beyond Republicans and Democrats and we're really being back to being at civil war – I don't mean that in a fighting way but our nation is divided as clearly as it was in Civil War times. And my hope is we will get leadership to help overcome that.
"I will go over some coping skills but before i do that I want you to know that the optimist in me, first of all, we are the majority, more of us voted to not have that kind of leadership, and we didn't win because of the way our electoral college is set up but we are the majority and that's helping me to feel better. I'm relieved that we live in California it is one of the best states and I love that and I love living here but i'm especially proud of our legislature who did put out a message – one of the things i'm doing to cope is to look for positive messages and look for some hope that's the optimist in me-and californai legislative leaders did put something… and these are things you can find…. "
Huffington Post spoke with OCC sophomore Joshua Martinez, a political science major and President of the Orange Coast College Republicans., who said,
"The video, shot during a class on human sexuality, was submitted anonymously to us and we wanted to share it to raise awareness on this issue. We want other students to know that we will help protect them against the constant leftist indoctrination we are experiencing in class by exposing behavior like this."
A lawyer representing the student organization sent the following letter to OCC president Dr. Dennis Harkins:
Huffington Post also contacted Professor Cox by email, asking for clarification on her in-class comments. She replied, "I don't have time right now."
On the Orange Coast College Republicans Facebook page, the Coast Federation of Educators union threatened action against whomever shot the video:
A teenager who fled to Britain 'for a peaceful life' after being forced to live in the Calais Jungle camp has been murdered outside a Tesco store. Khalid Safi, 18, who moved to Britain five years ago, was stabbed through the heart near the entrance to the University of Arts London in Acton last week. Scotland Yard are still hunting for his killer today as his friends revealed he had come to Britain alone to flee war in Afghanistan. Khalid had lived in foster care in London, Peterborough and Birmingham but had moved into the capital to study and work in his uncle's shop in Croydon. But before that he lived alone as a child in the notorious Calais jungle. His 'heartbroken' friend Akii Ahmadzai, 20, knew the murder victim for the five years he had been in the UK. He told the Evening Standard: 'He moved to the UK from Afghanistan because it was a war zone and everyone wanted to leave.' He added: 'He came here for a better and more peaceful life but he was still murdered. It shows that you're not safe anywhere.' Detectives investigating the murder of a man in Acton have made an arrest. A 19-year-old woman was arrested at an address in Redbridge on Wednesday on suspicion of conspiracy to murder. She has been bailed to return on a date in early January 2017 pending further enquiries. Khalid Safi, 18, was recently living in Southwark but had links to Wembley, Peterborough and Walsall. On Thursday December 1, police were called to Victoria Road, Action at 6.30pm following reports of a fight. Officers and the London Ambulance Service (LAS) attended and found Khalid suffering from stab injuries. He was taken by LAS to a west London hospital where he died a short time later. A post-mortem examination found he died from a stab wound to the heart. A witness, who did not want to be named, said the boy had two stab wounds and was covered 'head to toe in blood'. The 38-year-old local, who was on her way home said: 'There was a girl saying she saw a kitchen knife and there was a screwdriver covered in blood lying next to the body. It looked like it was intended, it was over so quickly. 'Two men were resuscitating him for about 20 minutes and they couldn't give him mouth to mouth because of his face injuries. 'He had dark hair and looked really young. He was casually dressed. There was so much blood, we were stunned the injuries were horrific. 'I could see a screwdriver covered in blood. The guys who were there just before me also saw a kitchen knife.' It is still not clear what Khalid was doing in Acton, as he is not believed to be studying there. Detectives continue to appeal for witnesses or anyone with information to contact them. Detective Chief Inspector Sam Price, who is leading the investigation for the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: 'There were a lot of people in the area of Victoria Road at the time of the incident and, while we have spoken to several people, I believe that not everyone has come forward at this time. 'I am continuing to appeal for anyone who witnessed the fatal stabbing or the moments leading up to it to contact officers in the incident room. 'I would urge anyone who can assist our investigation to come forward as soon as possible.' Anyone with information is asked to call the police incident room on 020 8721 4054. To give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit www.crimestoppers-uk.org
DETROIT -- Elite Mr. Alan's is offering Detroit sneakerheads the chance to do their dance at the Space Jam prior to the release of the new Air Jordan 11s.
In celebration of the Air Jordan 11 "Space Jam" release, the Elite Mr. Alan's will host a party themed around the 1996 animated classic. An outdoor party complete with a giant screen playing "Space Jam," heated tent, fire twirlers and breathers, Looney Tunes characters, giveaways and more will kick off 6 a.m. Saturday morning, Dec. 10, at 2027 E. Eight Mile Road.
The party will last until the store opens at 8 a.m. Saturday morning.
As for the new Air Jordans, they retail at $220 and feature a "45" stitched into the back of the shoe. The Air Jordan 11 "Space Jams" will be sold on a first come, first served basis, according to a news release.
"As with other in-demand sneaker releases, lines are expected to be long," the release reads. "The September release of the Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2s at Elite Mr. Alan's saw customers camping out overnight. "
Those expected long lines will not be allowed to form in front of the store until 6 p.m. Friday night.
The Redford-based company once known for its catchy "$29 or two for $50" ad campaign shifted gears in recent years, targeting Michigan's sneakerhead market with a higher-end product line and changing its name from "Mr. Alan's Shoes. "
A parent prankster has shared a hilarious homework snap after convincing his daughter her middle name was 'banana face'. Richard Holmes, 26, from Great Barr, Birmingham, joked to seven-year-old Katie-Ann that he had given her the unusual middle-name but never thought she believed him. That was until nearly a month later, while reading her homework, he found a hilarious paragraph in her 'about me' section. It revealed that the Year 3 pupil, from Hamstead Junior School, thought her middle name was in fact 'banana face' and that she thought it was 'weird'. In the book, Katie-Ann also made a vow to keep her embarrassing middle name a secret. She stated 'I will never even tell my best friends/BFFs' and added 'even if they ask nicely'. After reading the humorous homework, her father revealed the truth and the pair burst out into hysterical laughter. Rich, a football development officer, said: 'I was just winding her up. 'I told her that her middle name was banana face, because it was the first thing that came into my head. 'The way she reacted I just had to carry on the joke, she said 'No it isn't' and so I told her to ask her mum who must have played along with the joke after I dropped her home. 'I didn't think she believed me then and because I didn't hear anything else I forgot about it. 'That was until I opened her homework weeks later, when I turned back a few pages to read what she had been writing about and found a double page 'about me' section. 'I was halfway through it and just started howling hysterically. 'When I read the part where she says 'I'm not going to tell even if they ask me nicely' I was in bits, I was laughing so much. 'I asked her to read that section to me and she went a bit quiet when reading the part about 'banana face', she must have been embarrassed. 'So I told her it was a joke and we were both howling with laughter, tears were coming down our faces, it was hysterical. 'I don't think I'd ever seen her laugh that hard in my life, I think we were laughing for around 25 minutes.' Rich has shared his amusing anecdote, from last week, with friends and says he's had a positive response so far. He added: 'Everyone I've told has found it hilarious, the only response I've had has been laughter. 'I can only imagine the jokes that went around the staff room after marking it, I've not seen any of her teachers yet, but I'm not looking forward to parents' evening. Rich added: 'Katie-Ann can relax now that she knows her middle name isn't 'banana face', even though I am quite tempted to change it.'
(CNN)An enormous Indian Navy frigate tipped over on its side on Monday, killing two people and leaving 14 others injured. The guided missile frigate INS Betwa, a 3,850 ton...
Along with singing "Auld Lang Syne" at the start of the New Year, making resolutions is a tradition for millions of Americans. However, while choosing a resolution is easy,...
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today indicated that one of the reasons for tipping over of guided missile frigate INS Betwa during undocking at Naval Dockyard in Mumbai ...
A former contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race is believed to be the first performer the Oscars will consider for both male and female awards. Kelly Mantle's role in Confessions...
Sagar: The mortal remains of sailor Ashutosh Pande, who lost his life in the INS Betwa mishap in Mumbai, were consigned to flames with full military honours at his hometown ...
Driven by the pursuit of a great deal, you've downloaded bar code scanning apps on your phone and clipped coupons from your local newspaper. But even you — a savvy deal seeker — may not know that your computer can replace both of those money-saving activities. Browser extensions are...
Ottawa police are asking for the public's help to locate a man who is wanted on several warrants in connection with break-and-enter thefts in the area. Police said a series of overnight commercial break-ins occurred at several locations across the city between October and December. Charges have been laid, and four arrest...
Company claims it struggled to find "cost effective options" for worldwide distribution of virtual reality treadmill ...
Walmart offers the Weslo Cadence G 5.9i Treadmill, model no. WLTL29615, for $287 with free shipping. That's tied with our September mention and the lowest price we could find by $79. It features an LCD display, six workout apps, 2-position incline, and a weight capacity of up to 275 lbs. ...
Guided missile frigate, INS Betwa of the Indian Navy tipped over and fell when it was undocking after a refit. ...
Gumbo. Crawfish. Andouille sausage. Seafood. Po-boys. Whatever your favorite Louisiana food is, chances, are, there's a fest for it in or near New Orleans. And in 2016, two new food festivals were introduced: Beignet Fest and the Fried Chicken Festival.
And while some folks think we already have enough festivals, another food fest is coming up: Top Taco Fest, March 23 in Riverwalk's Spanish Plaza.
We want to know what your favorite food festival of 2016 was. Did you venture amongst the curious crowds of the new Fried Chicken Fest in Lafayette Square and snag a tasty leg? Or do you prefer the tried-and-true festivals, like the Bridge City Gumbo Fest , which cooks up 2,000 gallons of our favorite soup every year.
Vote in our poll below and let us know which food festival you liked best in 2016. Voting ends Tuesday (Dec. 13) at midnight. In the comments section, please tell us why your choice is the best. This poll isn't exhaustive -- if we didn't include your favorite food fest in the poll, be sure to tell us in the comments section.
MUSKEGON, MI - Muskegon County Prosecutor D. J. Hilson will continue to present evidence and witnesses today, Dec. 9 in the second day of a preliminary examination in the Jessica Heeringa case.
Jeffrey Thomas Willis , 46, of Muskegon Township, is accused of kidnapping and murdering Heeringa, who disappeared April 26, 2013 from a Norton Shores gas station where she had been working.
At a preliminary examination, the prosecution must prove there is enough evidence and probable cause for the case to move on to circuit court.
Willis also been charged with murder in the June 2014 shooting death of Rebekah Bletsch -- that case has already moved to circuit court -- plus the alleged abduction of a 16-year-old girl in April 2016.
The Jessica Heeringa case is the oldest of the three cases. She is now presumed dead by law enforcement, but her body has never been found. Willis was not a leading suspect in her disappearance until he was identified this spring by a 16-year-old girl who said he tried to abduct her.
The first day of the preliminary examinations was Tuesday. Police officers, sheriff deputies, gas station customers, and family of Heeringa testified.
Shell casings, blood stains, drugs and tears in start of Heeringa court case
Follow updates from the courtroom in the comments section below.
If, as Mahatma Gandhi wrote in 1959, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated," then things are not going at all well in the parallel lands that are the setting for David Savill's searing debut novel, "They Are Trying to Break Your Heart." In its first 100 pages, in scenes in Bosnia during the war from 1992-95, and 10 years later in London and Thailand, terrible cruelties are visited on a variety of animals. The intimation, and soon enough a good deal more, is that they are proxies for the savagery we practice on one another.
Obvious? Yes. And no. Savill, a British journalist who was on the ground both in Bosnia during the war and in Thailand after the Boxing Day tsunami a decade later — the locations of the two disparate disasters his book seeks to conjoin — builds his fictional case on an armature of such height it can be a dizzying climb. But attain the top we do. All thanks to a sheer amazement that compels us upward just to find out how such an intricate structure could have been conceived, much less made.
No small additional encouragement is the author's ability to explore moral complexities in lean and evocative prose, with a light hand on the symbolism.
"They descend the hairpins over the valley at Jasenica. The only road barrier is the flickering yellow tape indicating a mined area. The van clatters over the potholes. Vesna says nothing. When they turn onto the Zagreb road, the indicator doesn't cancel itself, and when he tries to turn it off, it switches in the other direction, then back again, before mysteriously stopping."
They are on their way to a wartime disaster.
Employing the style of cross-cutting and montage that has become de rigueur for any contemporary novel that pretends to seriousness or currency, the author charts a zigzagging course across time and geography for four main characters who will, of course, come together in the end. Or attempt to, at any rate. If they occasionally resemble elaborately made vessels rather than breathing human beings, the author may be excused: The aim of "They Are Trying to Break Your Heart" is to take on pretty much every one of the Important Subjects. Family, love, responsibility, desire, memory, lust, death and the unspeakable — all these and more are stitched through a plot that ranges across 10 years of time, half a world, and a couple dozen characters.
Borrowing fast cutting from cinema increases the tension in literature too. But before you can worry about any outcome you have to figure out who is who and what what. It's hard to care when you aren't quite sure what you're caring about. Savill has set himself a difficult project at the get-go: introducing the several characters whose lives will enmesh across time and space. There is Anya Teal, researcher for human-rights organization Dignity Monitor (master's thesis: rape as a war weapon in the Balkan conflicts); date and places of operation, 2004, London and Khao Lak, Thailand. Marko Novak is a Croat whose family, friendships and very youth are torn along the same essentially arbitrary lines as those that ripped apart his country; 1991–95 and 2005, England and Bosnia and Herzegovina. William Howell, Brit and Anya's former significant other, crops up in 2004 and 2005, before and after the tsunami that in moments swept away the lives of over 230,000 people. The last of these, paradoxically most affecting, is Kemal Lekić, Marko's best friend, soldier, war hero and war criminal, savior-victim-perpetrator; all this time, everywhere and nowhere.
Premonitions gather. Swimming in the Indian Ocean provides aching foreshadows of loss. As with spices in a recipe, these must be judiciously added, or else the dish is ruined. Savill is a clever cook, if one overly fond of the notion that if nutmeg is good, then some cumin, chile, garlic and pepper will be even better. Savill's is a mash-up of the international thriller and novel of ideas (he has Marko briefly expound on the history of war in postwar Europe, a march around the continent that sequentially threw whole populations across new borders) and it succeeds measurably in both. His book makes a good case that a search for the guilty party is both the ultimate narrative driver and a terrifically complex concept: it is what we are all running to, or from.
The darkly troubling crime at the heart of the plot is that of rape, the most potent weapon in war's arsenal. Its casualties are unceasing, radiating. Savill brings a harrowing concreteness to its use, even when it is off-screen: Anya visits a "rape camp" where years before Muslim women had been imprisoned and brutally dehumanized. Now, "Inside the house was a terrible silence" — the silence of those who knew what happened there, and who 10 years later she attempts to make speak. (Its real counterpart, Savill reports in an appendix, is the center of a still unsuccessful effort to make it a memorial. Anya's aims are true.)
In "They Are Trying to Break Your Heart" Kemal speaks the least, but he says nearly all. A shadowy figure in a chiaroscuro portrait of man's inhumanity to man, he emerges as most fully human, which is the true tragedy of which Savill writes.
::
" They Are Trying to Break Your Heart "
By David Savill
Bloomsbury: 368 pp., $27
Children's author Jon Klassen talks about the creative process when it comes to words and pictures for kids at his studio in downtown L. A.
Carrie Brownstein talks with Times writer Lorraine Ali about what draws her to artists at the Festival of Books at USC.
In what was considered a "radical" choice, Bob Dylan was announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize in literature on Oct. 13.
Los Angeles Poet Laureate Luis J. Rodriguez reads an excerpt of his poem "A Love Poem to Los Angeles" on the Patt Morrison Asks podcast.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen breaks down how to move past cultural appropriation into four parts.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen breaks down how to move past cultural appropriation into four parts.
There are more than a few fashion trends that don't age well — scrunchies, leg warmers, low-rise denim.
But Los Angeles native Yvonne Niami has largely built her L. A.-based women's wear brand, N:Philanthropy , around something that gets better with time — raising money for animal welfare and pediatric cancer research.
"I wanted to create a line that felt cool and edgy but still had a give-back component," says Niami. "I love the idea of people in their 20s buying our clothes and knowing that they're giving back."
Philanthropy is built into the brand's DNA and, as part of the process, allows shoppers to wear their hearts on their sleeves — in style.
Niami's intention for N:Philanthropy enables the brand to give money to support two local nonprofit organizations: Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles. Ten percent of the brand's net proceeds go to these organizations, yielding $200,000 in 2015 and $325,000 (so far) in 2016.
N:Philanthropy joins other fashion companies that incorporate a philanthropic angle into their business practices.
Ventura-based Patagonia , known for its outdoor clothes, has been donating like this for more than 20 years. (Most recently, it was in the news for donating $10 million from Black Friday sales to nonprofit groups working to protect the environment.) And L. A.-based Toms , which makes shoes, eyewear and other goods, has had a buy-one, give-one model since it started in 2006.
Also, in the mix are a fringed vegan leather skirt ($158) and a red slip dress ($194), which might sound vampy but come across as elevated and easy-going thanks to their sophisticated lines.
The brand's commitment goes beyond official donations, with Niami working philanthropy into her staff's routine.
On a recent Thursday afternoon, for example, Niami and her team weren't at their downtown headquarters. Instead, they were doing their monthly volunteer work at Children's Hospital.
The charitable intent also influences N:Philanthropy's ad campaigns. The brand cast model Elsa Hosk, a Victoria's Secret Angel, because of her work as an activist for Fair Girls , a Washington, D. C.-based organization devoted to helping survivors of human trafficking.
"Brands like N:Philanthropy make me proud to be a model and to use my platform to do something for the world," Hosk says. "This is the future — brands taking responsibility and giving back."
Hosk isn't alone in her prediction. "We're at the crux of a new world," says Susan McPherson of McPherson Strategies, a consultancy that advises brands on philanthropy, social good and corporate sustainability. "It used to be that companies would write a check or buy a table at a gala. Now, investing in corporate responsibility is an opportunity to differentiate yourself in the market and attract the best employees."
"It's also the right thing to do," she adds.
For N:Philanthropy, it has also been a good move for business.
"The merchandise is great on its own, but the philanthropic aspect is an added bonus," says Brooke Jaffe, operating vice president and fashion director of women's ready-to-wear for Bloomingdale's.
Celebrities have been quick converts. In the past 2 ½ years, photographers have snapped Kylie Jenner, Vanessa Hudgens and Alessandra Ambrosio , among others, in clothes from N:Philanthropy.
Niami, a mother of two, says she and her team sweat the details to make the clothes friendly to a wider variety of shapes, citing perfectly placed straps on a mostly backless top so wearers don't have to skip putting on a bra.
It all makes for a line that feels effortless in its stylishness, and Niami says the only time the brand's mission has interfered with the product has been for a good cause.
"We moved away from black faux furs," says Niami, "Because people kept thinking they were real."
Enter N:Philanthropy's blush-pink faux fur jacket ($220), a socially responsible statement that makes a fashion statement as well.
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Michelle and Dennis Madden of Irvine show us their e-bikes. (Video by Allen J. Schaben)
Waldo Yan's parents worked at a Chinese restaurant for years so that he could have a better life, toiling nights, weekends and holidays at a tiny restaurant in the food court of a Rosemead grocery store.
Before his mother died two years ago, she begged him from a hospital bed "not to do this work. " But about a year ago, after graduating from UCLA with honors, Yan took over the family restaurant and began to pursue a career as a chef.
He makes the food his mother used to make for him, to honor her memory and to prove that he's made something of himself.
Waldo Yan's parents worked at a Chinese restaurant for years so that he could have a better life, toiling nights, weekends and holidays at a tiny restaurant in the food court of a Rosemead grocery store.
Before his mother died two years ago, she begged him from a hospital bed "not to do this work. " But about a year ago, after graduating from UCLA with honors, Yan took over the family restaurant and began to pursue a career as a chef.
He makes the food his mother used to make for him, to honor her memory and to prove that he's made something of himself.
Area artists discuss how they celebrate Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) to remember their loved ones, featuring work from the Dia de los Muertos exhibit at the Ontario Museum of History and Art.
PlateFit workout is done on a vibrating plate.
PlateFit workout is done on a vibrating plate.
When they open an account at Wells Fargo , consumers may miss the fine print stating that any disputes with the bank have to be resolved through arbitration. Not that Wells Fargo gives them a choice: If they want to open a savings account, they had to agree (with limited exceptions) not to take the bank to court.
But what consumers couldn't have anticipated is that Wells Fargo would use this agreement to insulate itself against class-action lawsuits when the bank fraudulently created entirely new accounts in their name without their knowledge or consent. That's what the company has been doing since its employees created more than 2 million such accounts, then paid the fees generated by the new accounts by surreptitiously dipping into the customers' legitimate accounts. And astoundingly, the courts have sided with the bank, ruling that even the question of whether a dispute must be arbitrated had to be resolved by an arbitrator.
Wells Fargo, which has refunded the fees generated by the fraudulent accounts, argues that it is committed to resolving customers' complaints without going to arbitration. The bank also notes that those consumers remain free to go to small claims court (where the maximum award in California is $10,000 ).
But Wells Fargo shouldn't even have the ability to invoke arbitration — a process that has been notoriously skewed in favor of the businesses that demand it — over accounts the bank created behind its customers' backs.
Lawmakers should bar banks from requiring arbitration over disputes related to accounts customers didn't seek to create, as Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) have proposed. State Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) is proposing similar relief for Wells Fargo's customers in this state. Meanwhile, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed an even broader approach: a rule prohibiting banks from blocking future customers from bringing class-action lawsuits. The CFPB's rule would restore the deterrent effect that the threat of class actions can have on banks. That's a more extreme step, but Wells Fargo's actions in the wake of its unauthorized accounts scandal make it seem reasonable — and necessary.
Many Oakland warehouse fire questions are still unanswered , how will Hollywood speak to Trump's America , meet Wilbur Ross, the man Trump has tapped him to lead the U. S. Department of Commerce , and the L. A. City Council hopes to end 'mansionization.'
Flowers placed near the site of the Oakland warehouse fire. Video by Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times
Protesting the Dakota Access pipeline (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Beyonce leads today's Grammy nominations with nine , California's new legislative session began in dramatic fashion , Ben Carson is Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development , and former L. A. County Sheriff Lee Baca was once a powerful and celebrated lawman but now he's at the center of a public corruption trial.
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor , the only soldier who went to jail in the scandal over the National Guard bonuses, why you'll be paying more for your Christmas tree this year, and a new development from ancient scientists: The Earth is moving slower than it used to .
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor , the only soldier who went to jail in the scandal over the National Guard bonuses, why you'll be paying more for your Christmas tree this year, and a new development from ancient scientists: The Earth is moving slower than it used to .
"Integrating technology and traditional craft processes and juxtaposing modern and ancient forms are a constant theme in my work," McCollam said.
"I think it has a lot to do with growing up in a city like New Orleans — one that is, contrary to most American cities, infused with such a rich history. "
Pictured: Marion Cage laser-etched placemat in smoke acrylic, $19; Marion Cage laser-cut napkin rings in black nickel, $150; table linens and sterling silver flatware from Marion Cage McCollam's personal collection, inherited from her grandmother, Lucile Andrus; Marion Cage laser-etched coasters in smoke acrylic, $38 for a set of four; straight champagne flute by Deborah Ehrlich, $65 each, $250 for a set of four; hurricane lantern by Deborah Ehrlich, small, $300, medium, $600, large, $900; Kriest Orchis 1 used as a place-card holder, $495; Kriest Bull Vessel used as a salt seller, $850; Marion Cage laser-etched coasters in walnut $38 for a set of four. All items available at Marion Cage, 3807 Magazine St.
BEIJING, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Ten people were detained in China on Friday in connection with a coal mine disaster that killed 32 people last week, state media reported. Qiu Zetian, chairman of Baoma Coal Supplies Co. Ltd, the company that operated the mine, along with nine others were detained on suspicion of illegal mining and negligence, the Xinhua agency said. Investigations were going on into the blast that originally trapped 181 people underground in a small mine in Inner Mongolia, a region of China near Mongolia, it said. Authorities had warned the company against the use of excessive extraction techniques in March but it had failed to change its practice, Xinhua said without citing sources for the information. The blast came shortly after a coal mine accident in Heilongjiang province killed 21 people. The government has recently told miners to step up production to ease high coal prices and meet winter demand. Coal accounts for almost two-thirds of China's energy consumption, but its mines are among the world's deadliest, due to lax enforcement of safety standards. The government has ordered all coal mines to conduct safety overhauls, the deputy director of a work safety watchdog said on Dec. 2. The rate of accidents has alarmed regulators over the past month. Thirty-three people died in a gas explosion at a coal mine in the southwestern city of Chongqing on Oct. 31. (Reporting by Christian Shepherd; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Alex Iwobi has revealed both Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez have taken him under their wing at Arsenal. Iwobi has burst into Arsene Wenger's first team plans having only been playing for the Under 19s a year ago, and the 20-year-old marked his incredible rise on Tuesday by scoring his first ever Champions League goal against Basle. Both Ozil and Sanchez have taken a shine to the Nigerian international and he explained how both mentor him on and off the pitch. The German provided the assist for the forward in Switzerland and Iwobi told the Guardian: 'I have to call him 'my boss' because he assisted me.' 'Alexis likes to take the mick out of me when I don't score in training. They are funny.' 'They will tell you what you need to work on but in a jokey kind of way. They do advise me, saying I just need to compose myself, relax and the chances will come. They try to help in the best way they can.' Arsenal are desperate to tie down Sanchez and Ozil to new contracts as both have just 18 months left on their current deals. The pair have been in scintillating form this season and Iwobi believes that the current quality in the Gunners' squad is good enough to see them mount a serious title challenge. 'Some of the players Arsenal used to have were scary. But even now the quality we have now, this season could be our season,' said Iwobi. 'It is wide open.' 'I walk past the corridors and see all the pictures of players holding a trophy and celebrating but my face is not there. 'I want to be there. Hopefully one day my face will be on the wall celebrating too. That would be amazing.'
Conservative candidate Caroline Johnson easily retained the seat of Sleaford and North Hykeham in Lincolnshire with a 13,144 majority. The by-election was triggered after Tory MP Stephen Phillips resigned over "irreconcilable policy differences" with the government.
UKIP emerged as the runner-up to Johnson, with Victoria Ayling securing 4,426 votes.
Labour fell from second place at the 2015 General Election to fourth with only 3,363 votes.
The Liberal Democrats, which pulled in 3,606 votes, were up 5.33 percent.
Labour suffered the most in the by-election, with its vote share dropping 7.1 percent compared to the General Election.
But the Conservatives and UKIP also saw their vote share decrease, by 2.7 and 2.2 points respectively.
The Lib Dems had the best performance compared to 2015, almost doubling their vote share to 11 percent.
The Conservatives had been widely expected to keep the long-held seat, but Labour's sharp drop is likely to cause alarm in the party.
Speaking to the Press Association, senior Labour MP David Winnick pointed the finger of blame at the party's leadership for the "appalling" showing in the Lincolnshire seat.
"Even if one takes into account that the by-election turnout was considerably lower than in the general election, it was an appalling result for Labour," the Walsall North MP said.
"If we were to continue in this way then the indications are 2020 will be an electoral disaster and the possibility of a Labour government very remote indeed.
"The sort of bunker mentality that seems to exist at the moment at the highest levels of the party needs to recognize what is happening in the outside world."
Labour MP Jess Phillips said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's "London-centric" pro-immigration views made it difficult for him to communicate with voters outside the capital.
She told the BBC the "result shows there isn't a real clarity at the moment around Labour's position on Brexit."
Others are suggesting the results demonstrate Labour has nothing to offer either side of the Brexit divide.
Former Chancellor George Osborne tweeted that Labour's performance "was not good for democracy."
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Three people have been arrested by the police in Kumasi for posing as Electoral Commission officers. They had in their possession fake EC accreditation cards. The Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Yusif...
4. Multi-cultural treats: Many families consume their fair share treats during the holidays. Try something different like a box of snacks from Universal Yums that is full of treats from a different country. Order one box to enjoy throughout the holidays or get a monthly subscription. Boxes may include "local" twists snacks you may already know, as well as treats typically only...
Buy Photo e-reader(Photo: DFP)Buy Photo Starting Thursday, we are happy to announce that we are moving the Detroit Free Press e-edition to a new platform that will provide our e-newspaper users with several great new features. You will find it easy to use and enjoy the new experience. Current e-newspaper subscribers do not have to change their username or password. The new...
(Credit: Hallmark ) Early Hallmark holiday cards were traditional in style and content, like this direct Santa-and-his-sleigh image. (Credit: Hallmark ) The work of 1920s Hallmark colorists was critical, as color printing was not yet an affordable option, meaning Santa's red suit and green belt pictured here were colored by hand. (Credit: Hallmark ) Hallmark released this ...
Ahmedabad: Following the cash crunch after demonetisation, the city-based Cept University has decided to go cashless from January 9 and all the transactions will be conducted through plastic money. Cept officials said that the students will have to show their smart cards at canteen, stationery and printing outlets to get their transactions done. As many as 1,500 students will...
The Premier League fixtures come thick and fast in December and there are some fascinating narratives unfolding across the 10 matches this weekend. ALL EYES ON ARSENAL'S SANCHEZ AND OZIL Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are in the middle of contract negotiations with the club. Both have 18 months remaining on their current deals and the speculation surrounding their futures is a source of angst for Arsenal fans. But teh duo are playing outstanding football at the moment. Sanchez has 13 goals already while Ozil dictates everything that's attractive about Arsenal's attacking play. They host Stoke at the Emirates on Saturday and after edging Liverpool into second place last weekend, and are looking to close the three-point advantage Chelsea have at the top of the league. PALACE ON THE RISE? Out of nowhere, Crystal Palace ended a run of six straight defeats by crushing Southampton 3-0 last weekend. Not many sides manage that, even if it was a particularly disjointed display by Claude Puel's side. Alan Pardew was reportedly on the brink of losing his job ahead of that match and while one victory will not erase all the woes around Selhurst Park, it's a step in the right direction. Next, they travel to Hull where another three points would haul them further away from the drop zone. The league is still in a state where a couple of wins can propel a side up the table. BOB BRADLEY ON THE BRINK? He has only been Swansea manager for seven league games but already, speculation is swirling around the future of Bob Bradley. Swansea have won once in that time, drawing twice and losing four. They edged Palace in a 5-4 thriller two weeks ago but the feel-good factor of Bradley's first win was diminished when Tottenham thrashed them 5-0. Granted, a trip to White Hart Lane is difficult for any team but Swansea will expect to take something against fellow strugglers Sunderland and Saturday's clash at the Liberty Stadium could be a cracker. SOUTHAMPTON MUST HIT BACK This time last week, Southampton seemed to be carving out yet another success story as they knocked Arsenal out of the EFL Cup to reach the semi-final. They were only three points away from Manchester United in the league, with a trip to a Palace side in free-fall next up, as well as being on the verge of reaching the last-32 of the Europa League. Well, Palace arrested their slump in style against Saints and on Thursday, Puel's men were dumped out of Europe on their own patch by Hapoel Be'er Sheva. Virgil van Dijk said the manner of their exit made him feel 's***' and the mood around the club will only be worsened by the absence of top scorer Charlie Austin. He went off injured in the first half of the Hapoel game with a suspected dislocated shoulder. They play Middlesbrough on Sunday back at St Mary's, looking to push away the gloom that has suddenly surrounded the club. It's an important game with a busy run of games ahead. CAN MANCHESTER UNITED NOT DRAW 1-1? Jose Mourinho's last three Premier League games have ended in a 1-1 draw, and in two of those matches they have been denied victory by conceding a late equaliser. They face Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday, where victory would halve the six-point gap that currently separates the teams in fifth and sixth. Victory here is crucial for United, with the top four all favourites to take win this weekend. A loss, and other results going against them, could see Mourinho's men fall 12 points away from the Champions League place already. Make no mistake, United expect much better. LEICESTER MEET GUARDIOLA It doesn't get much easier for the champions, as they welcome Guardiola's City to the King Power stadium in Saturday's late game. They are only two points above the relegation zone and while nobody expected them to repeat last season's heroics, there were not many who really thought they would struggle like this. City are a wounded animal after being humbled at home by Chelsea but they will be without Sergio Aguero, who serves the first game of his four match ban. CAN BOURNEMOUTH KICK ON? Bournemouth's 4-3 comeback victory over Liverpool was magnificent, and thoroughly deserved. But for their trip to Burnley they will face a much more resolute defence than the Liverpool one that wilted as pressure was ramped up last weekend - Klopp's men can vouch for that considering the manner of their 2-0 defeat at Turf Moor in August. Sean Dyche is quietly guiding Burnley up the table and has established a three-point buffer between his team and the relegation zone. He has underlined how integral their home form will be throughout this season and if they neutralise Bournemouth's attack, they will fancy themselves to take something from the game.
She readily admitted to having a crush on Joel Dommett and even got the seal of approval from his mother. And it seems Ferne McCann's luck is in as the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! star has agreed to go on a date with her. Appearing on Friday's episode of This Morning, the jungle hunk, 30, wasted no time making the proposition, labelling her a 'lovely girl', despite the fact they haven't met. Scroll down for video Chatting with Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford, he was asked how he felt after hearing that she'd publicly declared her love for him. 'That's lovely,' he admitted. 'I think she's absolutely wonderful.' Slightly confused, Eamonn then rambled: 'Unfortunately she's married – oh no she's not? I just thought…' Undeterred, Ruth asked Joel if he would consider taking the This Morning showbiz correspondent out on a date, to which he was happy to oblige. 'She's Ferne McCann not Ferne McCant so well have to set that up – live on TV!' he said, adding: 'I'll have to check with (my mum) Penny.' But Ruth was quick to inform him: 'We have, she said she was a nice girl!' Somewhat baffled, Joel then quipped: ;I love how you've asked my mother before you asked me.' After Joel entered the I'm A Celebrity jungle last month, Ferne admitted she had her eye on the comedian, announcing on This Morning: 'It's no secret that I have a crush on Joel. I like him. 'I think he's really funny, he's got great abs, he's got a great body, he's eye candy but I think the reason why people are loving him is that he's a normal guy and he's witty. He's got great banter.' Ferne then got the chance to speak to his mother, as Penny appeared on the show via satellite from Australia where she had flown out to support him. Holly Willoughby was keen to know if Ferne, who politely introduced herself to Penny during the chat, is Joel's type, but Penny was pretty coy in her answer. 'I'm sure he would think she's wonderful. He finds lots of people interesting,' she said. Holly pressed on, asking if Ferne should be jealous of Joel's campmate Carol Vorderman who has struck up a flirty friendship with the comedian in the jungle. 'He's been bought up well, he's very respectful of women,' Penny explained, adding that her boy is a 'superstar,' for conquering his fear of heights during the terrifying Bushtucker Trials. As the chat rounded up, Ferne called out: 'Enjoy your stay at the Versace hotel Penny!' referring the to the plush hotel the campmates' families stay in during their Australia trip. Holly was quick to quip though: 'She's not your mother in law yet Ferne!' Earlier in the week Ferne told Holly and her co-host Phillip Schofield that she had googled Joel's sex tape, admitting: 'I watched it. I quite fancy Joel.' The comedian was falsely duped into having internet sex with someone posing as Russian model Natalia Noir in a video that was leaked recently online.
IT is the love nest he has reportedly settled into with his actress girlfriend who is 28 years his junior. And in a sign of just how well things are going for the couple, Rowan Atkinson - who split from his wife of 24 years in 2014 - is now planning to overhaul the listed cottage he is believed to be living in with Louise Ford, 33. Planning documents seen by FEMAIL offer a glimpse into the couple's domestic idyll - the proposed works include a guest annexe to accommodate visiting family and friends, a dog and boot wash area to clean up after weekend strolls, and a 'winter garden room'. The documents lodged with the local authority detail plans for a new guest annexe complete with kitchenette, shower room and mezzanine sleeping area, a new bike and log store, and the widening of both garages and the gate to the driveway. Atkinson, 61, who divorced Sunetra Sastry last year, has an impressive fleet of cars that is thought to include a Honda NSX, a Jaguar Mk7, an Aston Martin DB2, a vintage Ford Falcon, a 1939 BMW 328 and a Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe. The actor also sought permission to add a dog and boot wash area and to alter the layout of the 19th Century cottage. His planning agent said: 'The reasons for making these changes are to improve relationship and quality of spaces within the property and to ensure good natural light benefits the principle living spaces.' The cottage is described as providing 'total privacy and seclusion'. Atkinson is understood to have moved in his actress partner after buying the cottage in September, 2015, and the property website Zoopla now estimates its worth at more than £5million. The couple met when they appeared in the West End together four years ago in the play Quartermaine's Terms. Ms Ford has also appeared in the Channel 4 sitcom Crashing.
Felix Kjellberg has amassed a small fortune for his comedic clips and video gaming walkthroughs under the moniker of PewDiePie.
However, in a rage against "record low" views on his channel, Kjellberg tweeted that he will delete his account at 5 p.m. GMT on Friday.
Last week, the popular content creator announced in an online video, entitled 'WTF is going on with Youtube', his intentions to walk away from the site once he hit 50 million subscribers.
In a follow-up broadcast, Kjellberg blamed YouTube for the drop-off and suggested a significant fall in November views indicated algorithm changes have been made behind the scenes.
So far Kjellberg's video complaint has garnered more than 5 million clicks, and details how in the space of a month views from his 'suggested videos' traffic source plummeted to below 1 percent.
"Something 100% happened in November because all of a sudden we got suggested views 0.7%... and it's not just one video," Kjellberg said.
"I think if this continues it is going to kill a lot of channels," he said.
"I'll be fine but there are smaller channels that are just barely getting by, all of a sudden 40% of their views are getting cut out and they can't keep making a living on Youtube, which I think is really sad and really stupid and a mistake."
Forbes estimate Kjellberg made $15 million last year from his channel. However, the YouTuber is so incensed with the platform, arguing clickbait is gaining greater prominence, that he appears willing to derail the gravy train.
"I honestly thought Youtube was about what content the majority want to watch but it seems like it is becoming less and less of that. It's not about who you want to watch, it's about who is going to yell the loudest," he said.
"If this is all intentional and Youtube is focusing away from creator based content and less personality based, well then don't be surprised if personalities start leaving Youtube."
Fans of PewDiePie have since inundated the star with messages of support, pleading with him to rethink his impending departure.
Some viewers even appear to be taking emergency action by downloading all the content from his channel.
RT.com has requested a comment from YouTube. The company has denied algorithm changes have been made.
SNELLVILLE, Ga. -- A Snellville councilman is honoring law enforcement with a front yard sign right outside of his home. The blue lights on the sign light up every time a police officer dies while in the line of duty.
Bobby Howard wants to honor the eight Georgia fallen officers of 2016, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. Howard wants to pay tribute to them, with hopes that the number doesn't grow.
"It seemed to be too many, too often," he said.
Officer Nicholas Smarr and Jody Smith were gunned down this week in southwest Georgia while responding to a domestic call.
Howard says his sign has been up since October and will remain there for years to come.
"I have a lot of friends in law enforcement and it was just something I was compelled to do," he said.
The law enforcement community in Snellville has responded well to the sign.
While we were there, Sgt. Scott Smith with Snellville police arrived at the home with his police friends to show gratitude to Howard.
"It's nice to know our citizens in Snellville and Gwinnett County support us so much," Sgt Smith said.
Howard says not everyone in the community supports his yard sign, especially with all the recent controversial officer-involved shootings. Despite that, he says the positive feedback from supporters motivates him to keep his sign up.
A married man who thought he was inviting a 14-year-old schoolboy over for sexual activity and lager was snared by paedophile hunters. Leslie Parkin sent naked pictures of himself online to a profile he thought belonged to a teenage boy. The 39-year-old told 'Jake' he would give him a bottle of lager if he came round to his house for sexual activity. He invited him over for 'kisses and cuddles', Newcastle Crown Court heard. But when he answered his door he was confronted by police, who had been alerted by the organisation behind the fake profile, Guardians of the North. Parkin's behaviour was branded 'disgraceful' by a judge as he was given a suspended prison sentence for attempting to groom a child. Prosecutor Emma Dowling said the decoy profile was set up on the gay-dating app Grindr and social media site Kik, in October. Miss Dowling said: 'What happened during the conversation is a member of the group stated that Jake was 14. 'It took a sexual turn between the defendant and him.' The defendant said: 'Shouldn't ask but have you any naked or **** pics'.' Parkin then sent Jake a facial picture of himself followed by one of his private parts and another of a young male engaged in a sex act, the court heard. Miss Dowling said: 'Following sending those pictures, the defendant messaged Jake saying, "Would you like, if you fancy I'm free tomorrow morning". 'He told Jake his home address and an arrangement was made for Jake to come to his house on the Saturday morning and that some sexual activity would take place and the defendant would give Jake a bottle of lager if he came round.' But police visited Parkin the following morning when he was expecting 'Jake'. Miss Dowling added: 'He made admissions to sending the messages believing Jake was 14 and arranging to meet him and sending explicit messages and that he intended something sexual to happen. 'He said he knew it was wrong but he had got carried away during the conversation. 'The conversation had taken place over a week or so.' Parkin, of Sunderland, pleaded guilty to attempted grooming of a child and was given two years suspended for two years. He must also attend a sex offender group work programme, sign the sex offenders' register and be made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years. Mrs Justice Whipple told him: 'What you did was disgraceful.' Lee Fish, mitigating, said Parkin had never been in trouble before and has demonstrated remorse. He added: 'We are not dealing with a real person. Whatever was discussed online, it did not in fact occur, nor could it have done. 'Of course the defendant didn't know that, but factually that is the true position. 'This is a defendant who, when interviewed by the police, made candid admissions. 'The public will benefit from this defendant being able to confront this offending in a way that ensures, we all hope, that it will never be repeated. 'An immediate custodial sentence would prevent a lot of the constructive work that could be done in the community. 'He retains the support of his wife, who is here and is aware of what happened in this case. He retains the support of his family.'
The Top 20 Global Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows Worldwide. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers. 1. Adele; $4,134,638; $110.75. 2. Coldplay; $3,521,661; $106.79. 3. Justin Bieber; $3,018,983; $81.72. 4. Drake; $2,320,917; $111.17. 5. Kanye West; $2,182,858; $90.78. 6. Luke Bryan; $1,655,716; $65.08. 7. Jason Aldean; $1,149,514; $52.08. 8. Black Sabbath; $962,337; $64.06. 9. "Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour" / Puffy Daddy; $927,309; $84.15. 10. Sia; $893,733; $78.32. 11. Dixie Chicks; $854,339; $72.51. 12. Carrie Underwood; $703,262; $70.68. 13. Florida Georgia Line; $691,268; $44.68. 14. Dolly Parton; $672,592; $79.17. 15. Def Leppard; $606,266; $61.46. 16. Blink-182; $562,269; $37.90. 17. Keith Urban; $556,349; $57.93. 18. Amy Schumer; $511,333; $67.99. 19. Brad Paisley; $473,401; $34.70. 20. Gwen Stefani; $473,279; $60.09.
The people who best know the education advocacy work of Betsy DeVos, the billionaire tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to be his education secretary, are in Michigan,...
Betsy DeVos' influence can be seen in just about every major piece of education-related legislation in Michigan since the 1990s. | AP Photo Facebook Twitter Google + Email ...
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AMSTERDAM, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Ratko Mladic's lawyers told judges on Friday that Bosnia's "fanatical" Muslim leaders had been preparing "jihad" long before the Bosnian Serb general, on trial in The Hague for genocide, ever set foot in the country in uniform. Mladic, 74, once an officer in the federal Yugoslav army, led Bosnian Serb forces in a three-year campaign to carve an ethnically pure Serb state out of Bosnia. The campaign reached its nadir with the slaughter of thousands of Muslims in Srebrenica. Summing up at the end of Mladic's four-year trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, defence lawyer Branko Lukic said Mladic had been defending his country and its people from "ethnic and religious fanaticism. " "The Bosnian Muslim Party of Democratic Action (SDA) was preparing for war," Lukic said. He quoted from an "Islamic declaration" by Bosnia's wartime leader, Alija Izetbegovic, which stated that "there can be no peace between the Islamic faith and non-Islamic social and political institutions". Prosecutors on Wednesday demanded life imprisonment for Mladic for leading Bosnian Serb forces as they encircled the U. N.-designated safe haven of Srebrenica and then murdered some 8,000 of its male Muslim inhabitants, burying them in mass graves. But Lukic told the court that all parties, not only the Bosnian Serbs, were responsible for the violence in Bosnia -- not least Arab "mujahideen" fighters who had come to fight alongside their Bosnian co-religionists. "To believe the prosecution's vision of the case, one has to ignore the presence and activities of an opposing armed opponent," he said, as Mladic, described by another defence lawyer as a popular "soldier's soldier", listened from the dock. "Mladic is here today because he is a Serb and dared to stand up against Alija Izetbegovic's jihad," or Islamic holy war, asserting the Bosnian Muslim leader had enjoyed the covert backing of NATO and Western powers. The Srebrenica massacre, Europe's worst since World War Two, triggered NATO air strikes that ultimately ended the three-year Bosnian war, part of the break-up of Yugoslavia in a series of wars that killed 130,000 people and lasted for most of the 1990s. Mladic is charged with two counts of genocide in connection with the war. His old ally, the Bosnian Serbs' political leader Radovan Karadzic, was convicted of a single count of genocide this year and sentenced to 40 years in prison. A verdict and, in the event of a conviction, a sentence are expected next year. (Reporting By Thomas Escritt; Editing by Larry King)
By Atul Prakash and Peter Hobson LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - European miners are in a race for the title of the best sector performer this year, a sharp turnaround from a slump in 2015, although the rally extending into 2017 rests on U. S. president-elect Donald Trump and China. A recovery in commodity prices, better balance sheets and brighter global economic growth prospects have underpinned the rally in so-called 'cyclical' stocks - which tend to follow the fortunes of the wider economy - that were beaten down to low valuations at the end of 2015. Glencore's move to join a consortium taking a stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft suggests some companies are getting more confident about their balance sheets, analysts said. But with several blue-chip mining shares surging, a lot of optimism may already be in the price, they said. Companies such as Anglo American and Glencore , up 315 percent and 235 percent respectively in 2016, have helped the mining index to surge 70 percent this year and be on track to snap a three-year losing streak. In contrast, the pan-European STOXX 600 is down 3 percent. The sector is also relatively expensive, with its price-to-earnings ratio now at 14.6 times forward earnings, against a 10-year average of 11.5, according to Thomson Reuters Data. With valuations not so supportive, any sign of fresh wobbles in China, or that an expected fiscal stimulus from Donald Trump's incoming U. S. administration may not be as big as hoped, risks derailing the current rally. "The main risks for miners are indeed Trump and China. A lot of the rally is built on him delivering on his lofty promises. If he fails, it will hurt materials disproportionately," said Philippe Gijsels, head of research at BNP Paribas Fortis. "The same goes for China. The country continues to stimulate its economy. If the efforts are mismanaged and China end up in a hard landing scenario, it would have a profoundly negative impact on commodities-related stocks. " CHINA, TRUMP AND THE DOLLAR Analysts said any economic stress on China, the world's biggest metals consumer, could change sentiment. Chinese economic growth is more reliant on government spending, state-owned firms and "old economy" industries like steel and mining which Beijing has been trying to restructure via capacity cuts. Analysts warn a property boom, which has generated a significant share of the growth, may be peaking, dampening demand for building materials from cement to steel. "Trends in earnings have been turning to the upside. However, the biggest risk is a significant growth deterioration in China," UniCredit analyst Christian Stocker said. Analysts said Trump is also seen as a risk for the sector. After his election win, Trump said U. S. infrastructure will become "second to none". He has pledged to allocate $500 billion to $1 trillion to rebuild dilapidated roads and bridges. There was no certainty that his vague plans would go ahead in the way a lot of investors were anticipating, analysts said, adding that any diversion from the pledge could result in a sharp sell-off in metals, which in turn would hit mining stocks. A firmer dollar on expectations of U. S. rate hikes is another potential risk as a stronger dollar makes metals expensive for other currency holders. KEEPING THE FAITH However, some investors are sticking with their bullish views seeing potential for dividends. "I think we are near the end of a commodities downturn. There is scope for dividends to rise from here over the coming years," said Stephen Macklow-Smith, head of European equity strategy at JPMorgan Asset Management. "Capex expectations have been reset and balance sheets don't look particularly stretched. If demand continues to recover in emerging markets, then commodities prices will continue to recover," he added. Dividend yield at miners listed in London has slumped 1.4 percent to its lowest in five years just as cash flows in the sector improve following a recovery in metals prices, prompting some analysts to call for higher payouts as early as next year. Prices of commodities such as copper and aluminium have recovered this year, partly on the back of capacity cuts in China, further improving profit margins of producers. Credit Suisse predicts free cash flow yield, a measure of balance sheet health, of large-cap firms at 10 to 11 percent in 2017 and 8 to 9 percent in 2018. Dividend yields are forecast to almost double to 4 percent. (Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Vikram Subhedar and Toby Chopra)
BUENOS AIRES, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Carlos Tevez could be playing his last Argentine "superclasico" when he leads Boca Juniors against River Plate at El Monumental on Sunday as he ponders a move to China. Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenua, who appointed Uruguayan Gus Poyet as coach last month, have made a 40 million euro ($42.27 million) offer for Tevez, Argentine media reported. Former Manchester United, Manchester City and Juventus striker Tevez would not be drawn, however, on his future plans. "I've got too much of a muddle in my head to think if in February or March I'm going off to play in China," Tevez was quoted as saying in Sports daily Ole. "I don't just think about leaving, I could also retire When the year is over I'll see what's best. " The 32-year-old looked set to see out the rest of his career at Boca when he returned home to his first club from Juventus last year and helped them win the league title. A strong incentive to stay at Boca would have been playing next year's Copa Libertadores but they failed to qualify. Boca were eliminated in this year's semi-finals of South America's top club tournament which Tevez won with Boca in 2003. Marking Tevez on Sunday will be Ecuador defender Arturo Mina, who joined River in August after helping former club Independiente del Valle reach the Libertadores final by beating Boca. Tevez said he always had struggled to play well against River but hoped the team would continue their improvement since Fernando Gago's return two weeks ago from an Achilles heel injury in April. "I've always found clasicos hard to play. I can't cross the barrier from fan to player," Tevez said. "That doesn't happen to me against other teams. "But we've improved a lot Fernando Gago has done us a lot of good, he's a different class of player," he said of the Argentina 2014 World Cup midfielder who orchestrated successive wins over San Lorenzo and Racing Club to put Boca in second place two points behind leaders Estudiantes. ($1 = 0.9463 euros) (Writing by Rex Gowar, editing by Ed Osmond)
The 2013 X Factor winner reached the final leg of her Australian tour. And it appears the months-long gig, which kicked off in July, just weeks after her lauded performance at Eurovision, has taken its toll on Dami Im. The singer appeared exhausted as she arrived in Adelaide on Friday and was seen walking with her eyes closed as she left the airport. Scroll down for video Dressed in black high waisted pants with a shiny pink camisole, the 28-year-old looked cut a casual look as she lugged a bright green suitcase outside the terminals. As she walked with people who appeared to be crew members for her upcoming tour, the Sound of Silence hitmaker wiped her eyes under her rose coloured sunglasses. Despite her exhaustion, Dami still found the energy to accessorise, and she tied her outfit together with a thin black choker necklace and a pair of black sandals with silver fringing. On Tuesday, she told The West Australian she hoped to take some well deserved time off over Christmas before hitting the road again. 'I've had a big year, so it would be nice to just have some time with the family and maybe go back to Korea to see my relatives and just chill out,' she said. Dami's latest tour is titled Classic Carpenters, and sees her performing songs from her similarly titled album.
The City of Fremantle in Western Australia will hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day rather than January 28 after caving into pressure from the federal government. The council had moved its traditional January 26 Australia Day events to January 28 'out of respect for Aboriginal people' who view it as an invasion anniversary. Mayor Brad Pettitt said the council had been excited about giving people the opportunity to become Australian citizens during the One Day festival in Fremantle on that date. But assistant immigration minister Alex Hawke told Dr Pettitt the Commonwealth would not allow the City of Fremantle to hold citizenship ceremonies as part of the planned January 28 events because it would give an anti-Australia Day message. 'This was never about the citizenship ceremony,' Dr Pettitt told ABC radio on Friday. 'It was about offering people what we thought would be a really inclusive alternative celebration to Australia Day, two days later, which was meant to be inclusive, another option, another choice, rather than telling people what they should or shouldn't do.' Mr Hawke welcomed the decision and said January 26 was a perfectly appropriate choice for an Australian citizenship ceremony. 'The government's view is that citizenship ceremonies are non-commercial, apolitical, bipartisan and secular,' he said. 'They must not be used as forums for political, partisan or religious expression or for the distribution of material which could be perceived to be of a commercial, political or religious nature.'
SAN FRANCISCO — Tech gifts may top holiday wish lists, but after a year of exploding phones, drone malfunctions, and stomach aches, you might want to think twice before buying the latest gadget for your friends and family.
Before stuffing your shopping cart, do some research. You won't find recalled products on store shelves, but some third-party resale websites ignore consumer warnings and still try to convince you to buy bad tech products.
You might think about avoiding the hottest products until they've had some time to saturate the market — last year, thousands of hoverboards were recalled in December because they could catch fire.
Here's a list of recently recalled products to keep off your shopping list, and some advice on what to get instead.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7
Samsung recalled 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 smartphones just two weeks after they launched as a high-end competitor to Apple's iPhone 7 — and then stopped selling them entirely. The exploding phones landed a costly blow to Samsung's reputation and its bottom line.
The company told people to stop using Galaxy Note 7 phones immediately and exchange them for different devices. You can't purchase them from retail stores, but some people are still selling them on sites like Craigslist.
Always be wary of purchasing hardware from unofficial vendors, especially when the devices, you know, explode. If you still want to splurge on a phone for a loved one, try Google's new Pixel phone.
GoPro Karma Drone
GoPro's first drone had a little trouble flying.
In November, the camera company recalled 2,500 drones after people reported they lost power mid-flight. The foldable $800 drone was built to capture aerial footage as a companion to the company's GoPro camera.
It's unclear when the company will release a safer version of the drone that can actually fly, but for now you can check out the Parrot Bebop 2, which at $550.
Samsung washing machines
If exploding phones weren't bad enough, the South Korean tech giant recalled 3 million top-loading washing machines in November. Reports that the lids popped off mid-wash caused the retailer to pull the product from stores and offer free in-home repair or a rebate for a new model.
LG's front-loading washer might be a better buy. Of course, if you don't want to potentially get injured doing laundry, you could always find an app to have someone do it for you.
Soylent
It turns out that Silicon Valley's favorite meal replacement makes people sick. The company recalled its new line of Soylent bars in October and said that its original powder product also caused nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Meal shakes like Slimfast or Ensure are a solution for the time-starved hackers on your gift list, or you could pre-order Ample, a Soylent competitor backed by techies. If you want to go really old school, apples and oranges also make healthy stocking stuffers.
Some "smart" home products
OK, so you don't have to steer clear of all smart home gadgets, but you should know that some of them pose major security risks.
In October, hackers used some internet-connected devices to launch a massive cyberattack that took down hundreds of sites over the course of 24 hours.
While IoT devices aren't necessarily bad, many of them ship with insecure settings and default passwords like "admin." Hackers exploited the fact that many people don't actually change these settings.
As video surveillance forum IVPM notes, some major companies require people to set up strong and unique passwords by default, including Hikvision, Samsung and Panasonic. If you plan on buying a smart home gadget, research the security of the system, and maybe give the recipient a gentle lecture about how to change the password.
LONDON, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Venezuela and Saudi Arabia were the only two OPEC members showing production declines, highlighting challenges ahead for a production deal, Platts reported.
S&P Global Platts reported total crude oil production from members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries increased by 320,000 barrels per day from October. Of the member states, only Venezuela and Saudi Arabia reported declines.
Platts sourced its data from OPEC officials, traders and shippers, among others. A downturn in the Venezuelan economy meant production declined to just over 2 million barrels per day. Saudi Arabia, which committed to output of around 10 million bpd under the terms of last month's production deal , churned out 10.5 million bpd in November, a slight decline from the previous month.
The report found the gains from other member states means it may be difficult to meet the terms of a deal reached in Vienna to cap production at 32.5 million bpd starting in January.
"Many members appear to be pumping at or close to their full capacity to maximize revenues before the OPEC deal goes into force Jan. 1," the emailed report read.
According to Platts, total OPEC production for November was 33.86 million bpd.
Venezuela, which agreed to cut about 95,000 barrels from its production to 1.97 million bpd, said it was non-member state Russia that played a pivotal role in securing an agreement aimed at overcoming the supply-side strains that brought crude oil prices to below $30 per barrel early this year.
Russia has offered competing narratives on support for the deal. Dozens of delegates from oil-producing nations are scheduled to meet in Vienna to discuss the terms of the production arrangement. The deal hinges in part on non-OPEC cooperation and Russian output is at or near post-Soviet highs.
It was no secret there was tension between this season's X Factor Australia judges. And Guy Sebastian says he, Iggy Azalea , Mel B and Adam Lambert 'carried on like pork chops' during filming. 'We legitimately spent a lot of time maturing these artists and shaping them,' Guy told Be this week. Scroll down for video 'I think that focus is important and when it starts getting like we're carrying on like pork chops it comes across as if we're all a bit whiny and comes across a bit stupid.' The Like It like That hitmaker also said he felt there was too much focus on the tension between the judges. 'I think there was a bit of unnecessary drumming up of the tension... and I don't understand why that was because there was already a lot of organic tension.' Guy's comments come after he revealed fellow judge Iggy left the Aussie set for the final time without saying goodbye. 'There seems to be a little tension between you and Iggy Azalea,' Today show host Lisa Wilkinson said to Guy on Monday. 'Off air she was pretty sweet, then on-air she would always be at me for some reason,' Guy answered, noting their 'weird chemistry'. 'I even had my mum and everyone texting me, going "What's with Iggy Azalea being at you all the time? " he continued. Richard Wilkins then asked if he'd spoken to her since the show's last episode. 'No, she didn't say bye at the end,' he replied. 'Just went off. Just out of here.' Fellow judge Adam Lambert also didn't mince words when he was asked about the Aussie hip-hop sensation last month. 'She is quite a diva', the former American Idol runner-up told Sunrise hosts Samantha Armytage and Mike Amor. 'She shows up late, you never know what you're going to get with her. It is never boring, I will tell you that.' It's been reported Iggy left Channel Seven executives highly disappointed in her first attempt at joining the judging panel.
A "serious terrorist attack in Jerusalem" was prevented by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) in conjunction with Israel Police, it was announced on Friday. According to the Shin Bet, security forces uncovered an eight-person terror cell of east Jerusalem residents from the neighborhoods of Sur Baher and Sheikh Jarrah, planning to carry out a shooting attack against an IDF base in Jerusalem. The cell, made up of mostly minors and Hamas activists, were arrested in November.
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The cell members had been arrested throughout 2015 for taking part in riots and had begun planning shooting attacks in Jerusalem while they were in prison, including attacking an IDF base next to the Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus, the Shin Bet said in a statement. When they were released from prison, some of the cell members began to observe the base to find the best way to attack it. During the investigation, some of the cell members admitted to having taken part in violent demonstrations during the month of Ramadan in the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount as well as during memorial rallies for terrorists who had been killed by security forces, the Shin Bet said. According to the Shin Bet, the cell "demonstrates the grave danger of attackers with Israeli documentation who enjoy freedom of movement and have access to arms and the relative ease of carrying out attacks." On Thursday the Shin Bet announced that security forces foiled a Hamas plot to carry out terror attacks and kidnappings in order to negotiate a prisoner swap. According to the Shin Bet, several operatives from Hamas cells from Tzurif and Hebron in the West Bank were arrested in a joint operation by the IDF, police and Shin Bet in October after it was discovered that they were planning to carry out terror attacks, including shooting and kidnappings of Israelis. As part of the investigation into the cell, Israeli security forces seized two AK-47s, three pistols, a hunting rifle, a long-barreled M-16, a short-barreled M-16, clips and ammunition.
According to a statement put out by the Shin Bet, "the uncovering of the infrastructure reveals the high motivation of Hamas militants, both in the field and in prison, to carry out severe attacks including shootings and abductions."
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But she had never played at the historic St Paul's Cathedral -- until now.
With CNN Style, she was invited to not only perform under its hallowed dome, but to do so alone after hours.
"I don't think I ever imagined I would have the whole place to myself," Benedetti said. "To be able to play what is essentially spiritual music with this space is a moment in time I will always remember. The experience is really awe-inspiring. "
Read: A private rendez-vous with the Mona Lisa
Performing the final movement of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Partita in D minor" on her 18th-century Stradivarius, Benedetti said she felt "humbled" by the size of the space.
"It's interesting to play in an overwhelming space like this because you would imagine you'd feel the need to fill all of that air, and actually it does the opposite to you," she said. "It makes you almost protective of your sound and your space. "
Watch the video above to see Nicola Benedetti perform an intimate solo in St Paul Cathedral.
NORTHERN IRAQ – The Iraqi army faces great resistance in its campaign to liberate parts of its country from ISIS. Some on the front lines see their effort as part of a much larger war against evil.
Victor Marx with All Things Possible Ministry believes prayer makes a difference.
"You really got to understand that prayer works. It's not just a cliché. So be fervent in your prayers," Marx told CBN News.
"That vehicle right there, one of our armored vehicles, I'm telling you right now, that vehicle has taken RPG shots from like 30 meters away that's missed," he said. "It's been right in the middle of fire and not one round hit on it and that's because of the power of prayer. Really Christians at home must pray! "
So what do Christians serving here in Iraq want people at home to pray?
Dave Eubank leads a team on the front lines offering medical and humanitarian aid. He said people should pray "that ISIS would be quickly defeated" and that people "will learn how to live together. "
"That to me, all peoples would be free – Kurdistan, I think should have its own place and that the Shia and the Sunni and others will – and the Christians – will learn how to live together. Not learn; this is the power of God. We need that. It's not a learning issue; it's a heart issue and a spiritual issue. I think those are the things to pray for," Eubank said.
CBN News joined Sister Diana in the Christian town of Qaraqosh devastated by ISIS. She wants prayer for those suffering in northern Iraq.
"I pray that people will have passion toward their brothers and sisters who are suffering here, to help them, to pray that God will send people to support us, to rebuild all this," she said. "This is going to need some support and to hold us in their daily prayers so God will give us strength and to continue our faith. "
This battle goes beyond soldiers and fighters.
"It's real Moms with babies and children," Marx said. "It's husbands who have been killed. It's men who no longer have work or they've been diminished to such a place of such shame and guilt because of not being able to fight. "
Dalton Thomas leads a ministry that supports and Kurdish military and provides relief aid.
"When I pray for Kurdistan, I pray the same things over and over again," Thomas told CBN News.
"Lord, I pray, give the leaders geopolitically wisdom to pour water on the fire and not gasoline and I pray Colossians 4 Lord, open up a door for the Gospel to be proclaimed as it ought to be proclaimed here. And those are my two prayers," he said. "Lord, restrain the advance of the hands of the wicked man and open up a door for the – for the good – for the Good News of the Gospel to go forth because this place needs good news and it's been ravaged from bad news for far too long,"
Thomas and others believe a worldwide prayer war room will make a difference on the front lines.
Stay informed with the latest from CBN News delivered to your inbox.
Bewildering and breath-taking in equal measure, Planet Earth II has gripped TV viewers each week to become Britain's best performing natural history programme of the past 15 years. Sir David Attenborough and his intrepid, daredevil camera crew have captured the mesmerising drama of some of the most remote, severe and abundant habitats in the world - from the rich jungles of Costa Rica to the harsh deserts of Nevada and the vibrant grasslands of Botswana. If you've been inspired to journey to any of the 40 majestic locations unveiled on screen, MailOnline Travel reveals how to step into the wild, on your next holiday. Episode 1: Islands Locations where the episode was filmed: Galapagos; Escudo Island; Panama; Komodo and Rinca Islands, Indonesia; Madagascar; Kilauea, Hawaii; New Zealand; Sub-Antarctic Islands; and Christmas Island, Australia. How to holiday there: Animal lovers keen to follow in the footsteps of David Attenborough and the team can enjoy otherworldly encounters in a bio-diverse wonderland that informed much of Darwin's Origin of the Species - the Galapagos Islands. Holidaymakers can embark on daily walking tours of the remote Pacific archipelago, which starred in the opening episode of Planet Earth II. A 16-day yacht voyage from Kudu Travel allows guests to disembark on Fernandina Island, as featured on-screen. Here, with cameras in hand, they can go ashore at Punta Espinoza where the mangroves are home to a number of marine iguanas, sea lions, the scarlet Sally light-foot crabs, Galápagos penguins and the endemic flightless cormorant. Holidaymakers can explore the beaches and snorkel with turtles during their trip. The 100ft yacht has six cabins and en suite facilities. Nine nights are spent in four-star hotels and seven nights on the yacht with tickets from £8,390pp based on two sharing. The price includes internal flights, use of snorkelling equipment, the services of an English-speaking local naturalist guide and activities. Episode 2: Mountains The Himalayas, Ladakh, India; Alberta, Canada; Rocky Mountains, USA; San Pedro de Atacama, Chile; Chamonix, France; Yellowstone National Park, USA; Arabian Peninsula; Israel; Mount Everest, Nepal. How to holiday there: Although coming face to face with a grizzly bear in the forests of the Canadian Rockies may not be high on your bucket list, you can still explore the lush terrain showcased in episode three with a Discover Adventure Trek the Rockies tour. Boasting vibrant glacial lakes, rugged mountains and a low tree line, the trails are a photographer's paradise. There are no high altitudes in this area making it ideal for a trekking holiday. The nine day trip, departing in July or September 2017 costs from £2,099 per person based on two people sharing and includes all flights, transfers, accommodation, camping equipment and most meals. Episode 3: Jungles Locations where the episode was filmed: Flores, Guatemala; Cantão Park, Brazil; West Papua, Indonesia; Andasibe, Madagascar; Tandayapa Valley, Ecuador; Siquirres, Costa Rica; Kuching, Malaysia; and Sorocaba, Brazil. How to holiday there : Did the sounds, colours and pulsating heat of the jungle make your heart flutter? It's easier than you think to visit this rich habitat of birds, frogs and eerie creatures that glow in the dark. Costa Rica, for instance - which is a hotbed of ecological diversity, with volcanoes, rainforests and lagoons - is easy to reach and there are some great tours available. A trip to the Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge with Riviera Travel makes the most of the country's extraordinary diversity. On the 11-day tour travellers can access the breath-taking Monteverde Cloud Forest from hanging bridges and stay for three-nights at Manuel Antonio overlooking the Pacific Ocean and one of Costa Rica's most popular national parks. Visitors can unleash their inner Tarzan on a zip line tour through the jungle. The trip also takes in the capital, San Jose, and the Arenal volcano. Departing on several dates from February to November next year, the 11-day adventure costs £2,099 per person with stays at three and four-star hotels - meals included. Episode 4: Deserts Anyone who thought deserts were just barren, baked wastelands will have had these ideas crushed by the thrilling drama of Planet Earth II's desert episode, which saw a pride of lions mounting extraordinary attacks on giraffes and footage of wild Mustangs shot against the big skies of Nevada. Locations where the episode was filmed: Southwest Madagascar; Sonoran desert, USA; Namib Rand, Namibia; Nevada, USA; Negev Desert, Israel; Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, Botswana; New Mexico, USA; Lomas de lachay, Peru; Zion National Park, Arches National Park, Antelope Canyon, Arizona, USA. How to holiday there: Holidaymakers fascinated by this stark terrain can embark on a number of tours. Shutterbugs can take the Wild horses of Nevada photography tour the team at the BBC used to film episode four. As the wild horses roam from the desert valley to the mountains, holidaymakers move with them in a Jeep Wrangler. Guests are taken three at a time on day trips to encounter the magnificent creatures in their natural environment. This excursion costs £327 per person. If self-drive sounds more appealing, Virgin Holidays offers a five night fly-drive to Nevada from £776 per person, staying at Harrah's Reno. From here, tourists can explore Lake Tahoe and the surrounding national parks to see the wild mustangs. The price includes flights, accommodation and car hire. Episode 5: Grasslands Locations where the episode was filmed: Kaziranga, India; Eurasian steppe, Kazakhstan; Norfolk, UK; Maasai Mara, Kenya; Cerrado, Brazil; Karoo, South Africa; Yellowstone National Park, USA; Okavango Delta, Botswana; Barrenlands, Canada; Northern Territories, Australia; Reserva al Baugal, Argentina; and Savute, Botswana. How to holiday there : If the call of the swamp cats stirred your wanderlust, look no further. Intrepid holidaymakers can take a 12-day Botswana Uncovered with Victoria Falls tour with Wexas Travel , exploring the region and spending six nights at andBeyond luxury lodges in Botswana. Guests are promised a safari experience tracking elephants, giraffe, zebra and antelopes as well as the chance to canoe through Okavango delta to recreate their favourite on-screen moments. Travellers are then rewarded with a trip to see the breath-taking majesty of natural wonder Victoria Falls. The 12-day itinerary costs from £5,795 based on travel in low season and a couple sharing. It includes flights, transfers, nine-nights accommodation, national park fees, all game activities and the services of a game driver. Episode 6: Cities Throughout each episode of Planet Earth II, the narrative acknowledges the impact that mankind has had on animals' habitats and in the final episode it explores the unlikely metropolises where nature thrives. Locations where the episode was filmed: Albi, France; Rome, Italy; Barbados; Hong Kong; New York; Toronto; Harar, Ethiopia; Singapore; Jaipur, Mumbai, Jodpur, India; and Townsville, Australia. How to holiday there : From leopards in Mumbai to peregrine falcons flying amidst New York's skyscrapers, animal encounters can be enjoyed on your doorstep. Although it is possible to visit any of the cities featured in the final episode, the camera lingered on the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. Here, a man-made Supertree Grove and Cloud Forest can be explored for free. Tourists will find 18 illuminated Supertrees standing up to 165-feet tall in this vertical garden. The spectacular Cloud Forest is a climate-controlled bio-dome replicating a mountain forest. Tourists keen to combine a wildlife escape with a city break in Singapore could try a Highlights of Malaysia tour from Kuoni. Animal enthusiasts have the chance to spend two nights in Singapore on a multi-stop trip to see the lush mountains and forests of the Malaysian peninsula. The price for the tour in 2017 is from £2,057pp. This includes flights and group transfers and some meals throughout the trip.
The Ohio state legislature threw down the gauntlet this week to the supreme court, passing a new anti-abortion "heartbeat" bill that would ban terminations from as early as six weeks, the most severe restrictions in the country.
Ohio politicians say they were motivated to push through the bill by Trump's win, believing they might find a more friendly US supreme court that would uphold the law.
If passed by Governor John Kasich, the bill could serve as a test case for the limits of constitutional protections of abortion, and even for overturning the landmark decision Roe v Wade, which enshrines a woman's right to choose abortion until the fetus is "viable" (between 24 and 28 weeks gestation). But activists on both sides of the issue doubt that strategy is likely to succeed, and say it could do more to harm the legal movement than help it.
The bill passed by the Ohio state legislature Tuesday night stops just short of banning abortion from the time a fetus's heartbeat is detectable, which is usually around six weeks. The new law states that if a doctor terminates a pregnancy without listening for a heartbeat or when a heartbeat is audible, then the physician would be committing a fifth-degree felony and facing up to a year in jail, disciplinary action and civil lawsuits.
Many women do not even realize they are pregnant at this early stage.
"If this law would take effect, it really is a flat out abortion ban," said Amanda Allen, senior state legislative counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Many other states have also tried to get "heartbeat bills" through in the past. North Dakota and Arkansas state legislature passed similar laws in March 2013, however the eighth circuit appellate court ruled them unconstitutional in 2015 and the laws were never enacted.
Ohio lawmakers have considered their own bill in the past. But lawmakers said that Trump's election and a free seat on the supreme court gave them new impetus for the bill and make it more likely that the bill would be upheld in the courts.
"A new president, new supreme court appointees change the dynamic, and there was consensus in our caucus to move forward," Senate president Keith Faber.
But despite lawmakers' views, many anti-abortion activists in the state are not celebrating the move.
Mike Gonidakis from Ohio Right to Life, an anti-abortion lobby group, says his group is officially "neutral" on the bill because he fears the law would be struck down, after an expensive and lengthy court battle. He believes the six-week ban would be so dramatic that even the supreme court would vote 5-4 to strike it down, even if another conservative justice were confirmed to replace the vacancy on the court.
"You have to be patient and strategic with the courts," said Gonidakis.
"That doesn't even take into account millions of dollars Ohio would be forced to pay the lawyers for Planned Parenthood and the ACLU," he added.
Gonidakis thinks it may even strengthen Roe v Wade.
"We will be inviting nothing more than damage and danger to all we've accomplished for the past 40 years," said Gonidakis.
And while some are worried that the law sets up a test case that might become a referendum on the supreme court's Roe v Wade president, Ohio's arm of the American Civil Liberties Union says it's ready to declare a legal challenge if the bill becomes law. Allen says she's not too worried the legal challenge would have an adverse effect at the high court, since another court has already judged the North Dakota and Arkansas laws unconstitutional.
"These types of bans are completely unconstitutional and have very little chance of standing up in court," said Allen, noting that Roe v Wade has been settled law for over 40 years.
Ohio has tightened abortion restrictions in recent years, and this legislation was tacked on to an unrelated bill last minute in Ohio this week.
This was the third time Ohio attempted to pass it, after it failed in 2012 and 2014.
On Thursday, the Ohio state legislature passed another anti-abortion bill, which would ban abortion from 20 weeks. Currently 18 states have enacted some form of 20-week abortion ban, and Allen noted that lawmakers may be pushing the "heartbeat" bill as a red herring while the other, also controversial measure flies under the radar.
"That could certainly be part of the strategy," noted Allen. "Both bans are prohibitions on abortion prior to viability and the US Supreme Court has been very clear that states may not do that."
Kasich, who ran as a moderate during the Republican primaries but has signed several restrictions on abortion into law in the last few years, will have to decide whether to sign one or both bills into law, veto them, or ignore them, in which case they would automatically be enacted into law within a few weeks.
He was booted out of Strictly Come Dancing two weeks ago. But Ed Balls is still having the time of his life on the celebrity circuit, hitting the London Evening Standard Film Awards on Thursday night. Ed and his wife Yvette Cooper enjoyed the party at Claridges Hotel, where the former MP presented the Peter Sellers Award for Comedy to Bridget Jones writer Helen Fielding. Ed, 49, looked dapper for the starry night out, donning a sharp blue suit and metallic tie. Yvette meanwhile was chic in a black midi dress and smart coat as she left the awards do with her husband, with the couple looking in great spirits. The 49-year-old was a surprise hit with viewers of Strictly's fourteen series. And he has appeared on Good Morning Britain, Loose Women, and other daytime shows since he got axed during week 10 of the live shows of Strictly after his Tango failed to titillate. Ed revealed last week what former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown thought about his dancing skills. Speaking to The Guardian, he revealed that Gordon advised Ed against taking part in the show, as many thought the former wannabe chancellor's reputation could be tainted. However, the ex-PM was won over – and would text him each week to give him a critique. Ed reports that the former PM texted to say, 'I will never see Blackpool in the same light again,' after he performed in the city during the 9th week of the show. Meanwhile Yvette has told The Mail on Sunday that the BBC's hit dance show had exposed the public to the hidden 'wacky' side of her husband. And she admitted the former Shadow Chancellor's mid-life crisis began a few years ago when he decided to take up the piano. The mother-of-three and Labour MP said: 'I confess I wasn't keen on the early morning practising, especially the loud scales and arpeggios just as I was rushing round in circles trying to find missing PE kits or get the kids out to school. 'Then he took up marathon running. Three times. Then we had The Great Sport Relief Bake Off with his ski-slope cake. And then fake tans and Samba dancing. 'It's become a family joke about what Ed will come up with next and whether he will end up buying something crazy like a motorbike.'
NORTH WILKESBORO, N. C. -- Piedmont Federal Savings Bank and Liberty Theatre are making it possible to see the Christmas classic "It's a Wonderful Life" in the theater.
The classic movie will be shown for free at 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9:25 p.m. today at the Liberty Theatre in North Wilkesboro.
She's loved up with fiancée Meri Sopanen, who wooed her with a heartfelt fan mail in 2012 that led to her ending her nine-year relationship with her boyfriend. But despite the romantic drama, Saara Aalto has clearly remained on great terms with her ex, Finnish singer Teemu Roivainen, since she has invited him to watch her perform at The X Factor final this weekend. The 29-year-old contestant is hoping to impress the public at London's Wembley Arena on Sunday, and has recruited the support of both Meri and her former lover. Scroll down for video Speaking on ITV's Lorraine, when asked if her ex-boyfriend will be joining her, she confirmed: 'Yes, he's coming.' And asked when she will be exchanging vows with her fiance, Saara revealed: 'I think we're going to wait for maybe another two years, we will see.' The Finnish star has been rehearsing ahead of the final show in which she will compete against 5 After Midnight and Matt Terry. And while she remained tight-lipped about her rumoured duet with Adam Lambert, Saara revealed her song choice for her forthcoming performance will be Tears for Fears' hit Everybody Wants To Rule The World, teasing, 'My version will be a bit different'. Meanwhile, the aspiring star believes she has a good chance of winning the show because she has won over the British public. At the start of the competition, Saara almost lost her place in the competition when she found herself in the bottom two sing-off two weeks in a row. She said: 'I think I just needed some time because I came from another country and people wasn't sure if they liked me or not. 'Then when weeks went by people were like, "We like Saraa's voice" and "We like her personality'" and her performances and yeah, they're voting for me. 'I feel so grateful that people are voting for me and this is my new home, I want to stay here, I want to make my career here.' The X Factor underdog's remarkable love story began when Meri, 28, sent her a message on Facebook as she performed on Finland's 2012 series of The Voice. And now, the pair are inseparable as Meri went from super fan to Saara's manager and fiancee after she proposed two years later. Saara told OK! : 'Meri saw me performing on TV in Finland. She had never sent any fan mail before, but she sent me a very beautiful message. 'I get many messages, but when I saw hers, there was something in it that touched me very much and I wanted to reply.' The loved up pair bought a house together in February and are set to marry after Meri proposed on their two-year anniversary after they came home from a spa break. Saara's father back home in Oulusalo, 600 miles from Helsinki, told of his delight at their engagement, adding that he doesn't mind who she marries 'as long as Saara is happy'. He told MailOnline how Saara and her former boyfriend grew up together and remain friends despite the breakdown of their relationship. 'They went to school together and our families are friends. Teemu is a fantastic singer and a great guy,' he added. The pair have since continued performing and making music together, and Teemu has been one of her biggest supporters on social media.
British director John Madden 's political thriller " Miss Sloane " went on release in U. S. cinemas in November 25 via EuropaCorp after world premiering at the AFI fest. Starring Jessica Chastain as a ruthless political lobbyist fighting to get a gun-control bill through Congress, the pic has just launched internationally as the Dubai Film Festival 's opener. In Dubai, Madden spoke to Variety about the challenges of releasing this tense Washington-set thriller for American audiences in the Trump era. Excerpts.
There've been big changes in Washington since you made this movie. How do you think they will affect its release?
Miss Sloane was finished only six to eight weeks ago, in mid-October. I wanted to get the film out this year because I didn't want us to get out-of-synch with the politics on the gun issue, which is part of what the film is. I thought that [gun control] might become a very topical thing. It was certainly scheduled to, and then of course the whole political debate became something entirely different. No policy issues were really part of the discussion. But what was [part of it], was the political process itself. There is another perspective that we aren't aware of which is that there are a lot of movies this year with women at their center. That's a good development. One of the really good things about the script was that it has a woman at its centre who is not immediately sympathetic, not ingratiating. Not defined by anything a woman would normally be defined by in a movie.
Do you think it may already be out of date due to the reality of Donald Trump's America?
My belief is that there is a very renewed and intense interest in all things political right now, because America just experienced a kind of earthquake, to use a term in the film, that was riveting and horrifying and extraordinary in every possible way. I think everybody is aware that we are at a very significant point globally. The film sort of collided with that circumstance. I put my foot on the accelerator because I thought the movie would benefit from being within that conversation, though I did not know what the result was going to be. At the time we thought we were going to have a woman president, which would have had a totally different relationship with the film. Now people may just be fed up with politics. We'll see.
Is there any significance in the fact that it was selected to open the Dubai Film Festival?
I'm obviously very preoccupied with the fact that the film is coming out in a political environment that it reflects to some degree —not that it's intended as a polemic on an issue. Increasingly, this is a sort of global environment. We are suddenly aware of so many things that seem to relate to one another. Recently Italy; the political cataclysm in my own country [Britain] six months ago, and the current situation in America. So coming here [in Dubai] you start to think: how does this relate to the rest of the world in general?
"Miss Sloane" is a largely European movie — producers, director, screenwriter — about quintessentially American topics that have not really been depicted in American cinema that much. How did "Miss Sloane" originate?
When I embarked on it, someone said to me: 'an American director couldn't direct this movie because they would immediately become a target.' Gun control is such an incredibly contentious, divisive issue. My views come as no surprise; but it's not my country. And it's not my issue, though from a humanist standpoint I'm entitled to my view on it. Sometimes an outsider's view can be valid.
Yes, but how did the movie originate?
I have to credit [first-time British screenwriter] Jonathan Perrera with this. He was living in South Korea where he'd gone to buy time for himself to learn how to become a screenwriter. He'd worked in a law firm. Jonathan saw a TV program about [convicted lobbyist] Jack Abramoff and thought: 'I haven't seen a movie about that world.' Then he pondered various topics, and gun control was the one that jumped to the front of the cue. It came to me because FilmNation end up optioning it. I read it as a logline and jumped at it immediately, and then sent it to Jessica.
You worked with Jessica Chastain on 'The Debt', but this is different. It's a tour-de-force performance with plenty of rapid-fire dialogue. How did you work with her for this complex role?
Jessica is one of a handful of actors who has the range of skills, the kind of contradictory qualities you need for a role like this. There is a whole counter-narrative in the film about what's going on with that person and how does a human being get to be like that? I went for her and actually developed the whole script in that direction. Jessica has the smarts to be able to understand a role like this. She has the acting smarts to know the challenges it represents in terms of verbal dexterity, coloration, rhythm, all of the things that this movie needs.
Cape Town - Former SABC acting CEO Phil Molefe has given explosive testimony at Parliament's SABC inquiry, saying Hlaudi Motsoeneng threatened to "go to Pretoria" after he refused to give him a R500 000 increase.
Molefe was testifying under oath before the ad hoc committee looking into the fitness of the SABC board on Friday.
He said he was handed a letter by board chairperson Dr Ben Ngubane in 2011 to approve an unlawful R500 000 increase to then group chief executive of stakeholder relations Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
"In late November 2011, Mr Motsoeneng approached me asking for a salary increment of R500 000.
"I declined the request, and told him it was in any case a board decision. "
Sometime shortly afterwards, Ngubane summoned him to his office, where Motsoeneng was also present, Molefe said.
"The chairperson offered me a letter recommending a R500 000 salary increase, and I was asked to sign the letter in order to approve the recommendation.
Molefe said in no uncertain terms that he would not agree with that demand.
'This is not our man'
At this point, Motsoeneng intervened and said, 'Chair, I told you that this is not our man. So I'm going to Pretoria tonight'.
"Dr Ngubane pleaded with me. Please sign this thing so we can settle this matter. "
Molefe did not agree.
He said this happened in the same month that the broadcaster was in the process of appointing a permanent group CEO, but he knew his future at the broadcaster would now be jeopardised.
"I had applied for the position, and the applications had closed on November 2, before that meeting took place.
"The matter was now in the hands of the board, I told them. "
He did not get the position, and said he was "literally removed from the company" in 2012.
Hlaudi's rise
He described Motsoeneng's meteoric rise through the company.
From being a junior radio producer at Lesedi FM in the Free State in 2010, to being "parachuted" to general manager in the CEO's office in February 2011.
He then received the stakeholder relations position later that year and started attending board meetings, despite it not being a board position.
In November 2011, while Molefe was in Ghana, Motsoeneng was appointed both acting CEO and acting COO within a day of each other.
He eventually kept the acting COO position until July 2014, where it was given to him permanently.
Guptas , New Age breakfast
On a different matter, Molefe said Motsoeneng met with one of the Gupta brothers in July 2011, because the Guptas "were keen to enter into business with the SABC".
"Mr Tony Gupta wanted to sign a memorandum of cooperation between SABC and TNA Media to have live broadcasts on its morning breakfast show, Morning Live. "
He also said they wanted to distribute their The New Age newspapers at the corporation, and proposed having a stake in the then envisaged SABC News Channel.
"I did not agree to these proposals. These proposals were quite drastic and had significant implications. "
He also said it was problematic airing live broadcasts of an external partner on SABC channels.
"My decision did not go down well with the Guptas. Motsoeneng tried to persuade me, urging me to soften my approach in dealing with the Guptas. "
Molefe said he refused, saying he would not make irrational decisions.
This was evidence that the regression of the SABC started to take root as far back as 2011, he said.
'Who or what is Pretoria?'
When it came to questions, MPs breathed out their collective shock, joking they needed some time to digest what they had just heard.
ANC MP Hlomane Chauke described his testimony as "shocking". He asked Molefe to elaborate on the issue of the R500 000 increase, and what "Pretoria" meant. His colleague Juli Killian wanted to know the amount that the Guptas wanted to spend.
ANC MP Makhosi Khoza said she was a member of the African National Congress, and implored Molefe to help the party restore good governance at the SABC.
DA MP Phumzile van Damme wanted to know if the authority he was talking about was President Jacob Zuma.
"My understanding was, 'going to Pretoria, I was going to a high authority'," Molefe answered. "Although I do not have specific terms who or what that authority was. "
Asked to elaborate further, he said: "There is a powerful force, but I would be very wary to speculate who or what that could be," he said.
'Get to the bottom of it'
He said the ad hoc committee had the power to get to the bottom of it. He cited the Public Protector's use of cellphone records to triangulate someone's position at any given time.
"If someone said 'I was going to Pretoria tonight', you can establish with military precision where that individual was. "
With regards to the salary issue, he said: "My position was quite clear. This whole thing was irregular and could not be justified.
"That is why I did not agree to the sum and increment of R500 000," he said.
He said he did not know if Motsoeneng had received the salary in the end. He left the broadcaster thereafter in 2012, having been overlooked for the permanent CEO position.
Molefe's eventual successor Lulama Mokhobo confirmed on Thursday that Motsoeneng received a salary increase while she was there, and one before she joined.
A GCHQ spybase worker hanged himself after being arrested by police and then suspended from his top secret work, an inquest heard yesterday. Tim Masling, 57, of Cheltenham, died on July 1 this year, three weeks after his arrest and suspension from the intelligence organisation. During an inquest held at Gloucester Coroners Court, his family said the allegation which led to his arrest has never been proved and they are sure he would still be alive if his GCHQ bosses had been more supportive. The coroner, Katy Skerrett, recorded a conclusion of suicide. Mr Masling was arrested on June 16 for reasons which have not been made public. After his release, he tried to arrange a meeting with his employers 'to put his side of the story across', but one was not arranged, his wife, Deborah, said during the inquest. He then went to work on June 19 but found his pass wasn't working. Mr Masling was informed by a GCHQ security guard that after a meeting on the Friday with a member of security, he was told he had been banned from the site. 'In fact, Tim had never had such a meeting and had not been told that', Mrs Masling said. On Monday, June 20, her husband rang GCHQ in the morning to try to find out what was going on, who were 'very apologetic'. The coroner asked Mrs Masling what state of mind he was in and she replied: 'He was very, very positive regarding the allegation that was made. 'He was going to fight it all the way to clear his name. That was from the outset, from the moment he was arrested. He was extremely confident everything was going to be cleared.' A colleague at GCHQ - referred to in court only as 'Witness A' – later contacted Mr Masling and told him she had spoken to her line manager about his arrest. Mrs Masling said: 'The line manager had told her and other staff members of the arrest and the fact that Tim had been put on 'gardening leave'. Her husband then went to see his GP and was signed off sick for eight weeks. He was prescribed anti-depressants. On July 1, Mrs Masling returned home and found a suicide note on his computer. She called her father, Frank Lacey, who lives nearby and he came straight round. He went into the garage and found her husband hanging dead. Asked by the coroner if she felt her husband had formed a settled intent to end his life, Mrs Masling said: 'I think he had got to the stage whereby he felt that to protect everybody. He didn't want to die but he felt he was in a hopeless situation. 'He chose death because he wanted to end the pain that he was going through and the pain that he felt he was bringing to myself.' Asked by her barrister Mark Smith if her husband's positive attitude to the allegations ever waned she said 'No.' She confirmed her husband had received a letter from GCHQ telling him his security pass had been suspended for the duration of his time off sick. Detective sergeant Tracyann Curtis of Gloucestershire police gave evidence about the finding of Mr Masling's body and confirmed there were no suspicious circumstances. The coroner read parts of a statement from 'Witness A', who said that while at work on June 21 she had a 30 minute phone conversation with Mr Masling who was 'climbing the walls and just wanted to come into work to get his side across.' The next day when she spoke to him he was close to tears, she stated. On June 23 she was surprised when he told her he had been asked to attend a meeting at GCHQ but had refused. 'He said work had already written him off and he didn't want to go over old ground.' Mr Masling, who was an award-winning skittler, was talking about never going back to GCHQ and retiring. He was in a 'dark place,' she stated. In a statement published after his death, his wife, and two children, Matthew and Laura, issued a statement, which said: 'The family believe that the sequence of events surrounding the death of Tim, the allegation for which there was no evidence to support it, and the handling of his welfare by his employer, were the contributing factors in why Tim decided to take his life. 'The family believe that had these factors not happened Tim would still be with his family and friends today. They added they were 'deeply shocked and saddened' by his untimely death. 'Tim was a well respected, popular and thoughtful member of the community and a loving husband, father and friend.' A GCHQ spokesperson said today: 'Tim Masling was a valued colleague, held in respect and affection by many of his friends and co-workers at GCHQ. Our thoughts and deepest sympathy go to his loved-ones at this difficult time.' For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or go to samaritans.org.
Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood has been forced to apologise after saying he 'liked' the rape scenes in the hit TV series Game of Thrones. Calls were made for him to be sacked by the BBC after he came out with the controversial comments on More4's comedy panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats. The broadcaster has so far declined to comment on the row, while today Revel Horwood, 51, issued a statement via his agent saying: 'I unreservedly apologise for any offence caused by my comments.' It followed calls by an abuse charity for him to be fired. The dancer - who has been on Strictly since it started in 2004 - was discussing the hit American fantasy drama series with other panelists on the show. Game of Thrones has attracted millions of fans around the world, however it has also received criticism following its use of nudity and violence. Host Jimmy Carr, 44, asked Revel Horwood if he watched the programme and he replied: 'No, I persevered for the first series until the dragon came on and that's when I switched off. 'I liked all the sex scenes and the rape and I liked the cleavers through the skulls and I liked all of that, but I got very bored in the end.' Irish actress Aisling Bea, 32, who was on his team, looked horrified at his rape comment before quickly replying after he said he got 'bored' watching the show. She said: 'When they weren't raping anyone? Am I the only one who heard that? What world are we living in? Oh Trump's world, fine keep going.' Comedian Katherine Ryan also looked on in disgust, then the audience clapped and Revel Horwood and the other panelists joined in. Marilyn Hawes, founder of Enough Abuse UK, said she was 'absolutely disgusted' by his comment. She said: 'Craig's comments are deeply disrespectful. 'Rape is the most devastating and vile crime and I would have to question him as a person and his merit as a judge on the Strictly Come Dancing panel, which is a family show. 'His comment would have enraged many women and men who have been raped. How could he say he liked that scene? I'm absolutely disgusted. 'You cannot have people on a family show with that mindset. I think the BBC should get rid of him. It is so distressing for people who have been raped to hear that. 'I'm a huge fan of Strictly Come Dancing. It's not a reflection on his ability as a judge or dancer, I enjoy watching him, however it is going on in his mind, which is concerning. 'When you are in such a high-profile position you cannot afford to make comments like this. He has done himself no favours by saying this. You cannot have someone glibly talking about rape like this, it's jaw-droppingly awful.' The BBC declined to comment.
In the western Turkish province of Denizli where 300 commandos from a base were first taken in buses to a military airport and then to the border region in military planes to join the Turkish-led operation. ...
WINSTON-SALEM, N. C. — UNC School of the Arts has received an anonymous gift of $10 million that will be used to establish the Institute for Performance Innovation, according to the Winston-Salem Journal .
This is the largest gift the school has received from an individual donor, Chancellor Lindsay Bierman said Thursday.
The Institute for Performance Innovation will support the creation of a graduate animatronics program in UNCSA's School of Design and Production and advance a graduate program in gaming and virtual reality in the School of Filmmaking.
"I am profoundly grateful for this transformative gift, and deeply moved by the donor's guiding vision and passion for UNCSA," Bierman said.
"It allows us to develop new career pathways for our students by enhancing our facilities, investing in technology, expanding our curricula, and partnering with businesses that shape and define our culture," he said.
Pakistan's electronic media watchdog today issued a notice to a TV channel for airing an unauthentic audio clip of crashed PIA PK-661 flight and asked it to explain by December 15 why action should...
One of Melbourne' s most popular shopping districts has ditched Santa Claus in lieu of a dancing and singing drag queen to celebrate Christmas this year, infuriating Christians and traditionalists. Chapel Street will transform its shopping precinct into a runway for drag queens and other eccentric entertainers every weekend afternoon right up until Christmas Day. Performers will lip sync to Christmas pop music from the back of luxury convertibles as part of their performance to the masses, the Herald Sun reports. Popular drag queen Art Simone will be one of the main spectacles at the show. The performer posted a photo on Instagram to her 21 thousand followers on Friday letting them know they could catch her 'Drag Queen Carolling every Saturday and Sunday'. 'Look out for the convertible blasting Christmas pop tracks!' she said. She told Daily Mail Australia she understood the controversy, but implored it was time for a change; however uncomfortable it might be. 'Change may not be comfortable... But it's necessary,' she said. 'And let me tell you I wear some things to change me that are not comfortable but are ABSOLUTELY necessary! 'I adore Chapel Street and I'm glad I can help spread some Christmas Cheer the new Chapel Street style!' Chapel Street Precinct Association marketing and events director Chrissie Maus said the switch-up was unashamedly outrageous and it was exactly what the precinct needed. 'I am sure traditionalists are not going to like or support this marketing, but this is about celebrating uniqueness and diversity. That's exactly what we need to be doing to put Chapel Street back on the map,' she told the Herald Sun. And Ms Maus was not wrong. Traditionalists emerged furious at the news, claiming Christmas was not a religious festival and people had no right to sour it with 'smut' and 'perversion'. 'Play Santa dress ups at the clubs, not in the streets,' one woman said. 'I can't even play the radio half the time from all the sexualised pus beaming into my kids ears, now you want to funk Christmas up with your smut. And why did there need to be a topless hunk up there?' Another woman fired up claiming she was 'deeply offended'. 'As a Catholic I am deeply offended. As a person who believes people should leave other people's beliefs alone and stop trying to change them I am angered,' she said. 'It is a time to respect the birth of Jesus. If you are not Catholic or follow Christian traditions, fair enough, but leave it alone.' Others thought the change was so absurd, they likened the performers and anyone who played a part in the event to perverts. 'Perverts should celebrate Christmas in the park bushes where they belong,' one man said. 'I will bring my baseball. Stop the perversion, our kids deserve better.' One woman hit out at the event suggesting it be moved to any other time of year. 'No, not for Christmas. I like the fairy tale, (it is) the only time of year which is supposed to bring happiness and sharing. Could they please arrange this parade for another time of year. We can have two festivities,' she said. 'Getting mixed up with Mardi Gras I think, world's gone mad,' another man added. While news of the controversial show garnered huge amounts of negative attention, that was exactly what marketing manager Ms Maus wanted. Once one of Melbourne's most popular shopping districts, Chapel Street now has 44 vacant shops. And as a desperate cry for help, the drag show was born. 'If we don't celebrate the uniqueness and bring back the difference we will be in a situation where we are bland and end up like Bridge Road,' she said. Ms Maus also assured those concerned that the change would not encroach on Santa Claus appearances in other parts of Melbourne or Australia.
A diver wearing a Santa Claus outfit swims inside a fish-tank in Kuala Lumpur, as part of Christmas festivities to attract visitors to a water park. Video provided by AFP...
CCTV footage has revealed the moment a brazen man allegedly stole a truck and the two dogs inside it while the owner was filling up at a petrol station. Security camera footage shows the man, who is covered in blood, sidling up to a blue Toyota LandCruiser and hopping into the driver's seat. The dumbfounded owner of the vehicle runs after the Toyota and clings on to the door frame, but only succeeds in being dragged along the forecourt in Brisbane as the alleged thief made his getaway. The alleged theft came just minutes after police claim the man stabbed another driver, stole his car and crashed it in a ditch. Queensland Police claim the man seen getting into the car in the CCTV footage walked onto a nearby property at 4.20pm on Friday before stealing a Nissan truck. He is then accused of crashing the vehicle into a ditch, at which point the 40-year-old owner of the car confronted him. The man allegedly stabbed the owner with a knife, cutting him on the arms and chest before fleeing on foot. The owner of the car was taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital with minor injuries. Barely 25 minutes later, the alleged thief was at the petrol station in Greenbank, where a man was seen getting into a car and driving away with two dogs inside. The owner was left with a cut to his right hand that required two stitches. Only one of the two dogs that were inside the truck have been found, police said. Queensland Police told Daily Mail Australia that two men have been taken into custody, but did not specify whether the man seen in the CCTV was among them. The alleged car thief was described as white, 180cm tall with black hair and aged in his early 20s.
MARRAKECH, Morocco — The Marrakech Film Festival has been organizing country tributes since its fourth edition in 2004, honouring such grand filmmaking traditions as France, the U. K, and India and in the last three editions, Scandinavia, Japan and Canada.
But choosing to organize a tribute to Russia – whose landmass spans from Europe to the Far East, and which launched the world's first film school, VGIK, and has spawned key filmmakers, including Eisenstein, Tarkovsky, Sokourov and Zviaguinstev – is perhaps the festival's most ambitious challenge to date.
Two Russian films have won Marrakech's top prize, the Golden Star: Mikhail Kalatozishvili's "Wild Field" in 2008, and Ivan Tverdovsky's "Corrections Class" in 2014. Tverdovsky's coming-of-age drama "Zoology," that won a Special Jury Prize at Karlovy Vary, is screening in Marrakech competition this year. It has been one of the most talked about pics at the fest.
An extensive delegation travelled to the red city, headed by Karen Shakhnazarov , CEO of Mosfilm Studio. It also included Pavel Lungin, who gave a masterclass at the fest, and other directors such as Anna Melikian, Alexei Mizguirev, Kirill Serebrennikov, Valeri Todorovski and Tverdovsky himself.
Thirty Russian films screened at the fest, including world classics such as Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin," "Ivan the Terrible", and Tarkovsky's "Andrei Rublev" and key recent films, among them Chakhnazarov's "Zero City," Lungin's "Taxi Blues" and "The Island," Melikian's "About Love" and Serebrennikov's "The Student."
The country tribute ceremony opened with a speech by French actress-director Fanny Ardant, who has recently completed a biopic about Stalin, played by French actor and Russian citizen, Gerard Depardieu, based on Jean-Daniel Baltassat's 2013 novel "Le Divan de Staline," which is due to be released in early 2017.
Ardant referred to key historical achievements of Soviet and Russian cinema, including Mikhail Kalatozov's "The Cranes Are Flying" which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1958, and Andrei Konchalovsky's Holocaust drama "Paradise," which won a best director Silver Lion this year at Venice.
"The tribute to Russian cinema is one of the most distinctive to date," said Ardant. "Each person has come with their own personality and singularity, their own universe and vision of humanity and the world, their own obsessions and questions. This is a chance to see all of Russia. Each voice is different, like trees in a forest."
Her speech was followed by a spectacle choreographed by Nadedjad Lougine which combined two traditional dancers – one from Russia, the other from Morocco, against a background of two dancing silk fabrics, propelled by 12 giant fans, orchestrated by Daniel Wurtzel.
Clips from the films in the Russian retrospective were screened, followed by the extensive delegation taking the stage. The session concluded with screening of Mizguirev's epic "The Duellist," playing out-of-competition.
Talking to Variety prior to the tribute ceremony, Shakhnazarov emphasised that Russian cinema is very different from Soviet cinema and is a very young cinema, although it includes some veterans such as himself, who began their careers during the Soviet Union.
"This tribute is a very important event for us," he explained. "The chance to show our films here and the possibility for people to understand us a bit more – both in terms of Soviet and Russian cinema – is a great opportunity, not just in the Arab world, but in terms of the exposure it brings in Europe and America," Shaknazarov said.
Structures built up during Soviet cinema were completely destroyed in the early 1990s, making it necessary to build a new industry.
"In some senses, we have been very successful because we did build a new industry. Technology is much more powerful than in the Soviet era, we can now make much more with technology. But that by itself is insufficient to make great cinema. It's much easier to build technology. It's not so easy to build art. You need time, above all because we're in the process of forging a new identity, which were trying to find after the collapse of Communism."
Shakhnazarov suggested that there are few points of contact between the two cinemas, but considers that this is perfectly normal. "Cinema reflects life. that is why modernRussian cinema is very different from Soviet cinema, because life in Russia is so different now."
In relation to Mosfilm, that was founded in 1920, three years after the Russian Revolution, Shakhnazarov explained that it was completely rebuilt after the collapse of the Soviet Union and has been given a contemporary market-driven philosophy and equipped with state-of-the-art technologies.
"In different ways, we work with 80% of Russian film and TV production. Now we work with TV more than cinema. We are state-owned but we have a completely free market approach. We make our films without any subsidy support."
As a director Shakhnazarov continues to be very active. One of his latest productions is the $10 million project "Anna Karenina," that encompasses both a feature film and TV series, and which he says has been financed entirely by Russian TV, without any state support. He hopes to premiere the film in Cannes 2017.
In comparison with recent screen versions of Tolstoy's literary epic, such as Joe Wright's 2012 adaptation, he says that his version will be intimately linked to Tolstoy's novel and he thinks will shed new light on the story.
Shakhnazarov added that his 2012 pic "White Tiger" was able to generate significant commercial revenues, including a strong theatrical release in Russia and significant sales abroad.
"If you have the choice it's better to work without state support. I feel much more independent that way."
The main problem facing Russian cinema is that only 70-80 films are made per year, whereas in the Soviet Union, 300 films were made a year, he added.
In terms of TV production, he estimated that Russia produces around 600 titles per year.
"We have some more mainstream films and a lot of artistic auteur films. I see no difference between the two. The problem is always that it must be a good film. For me it comes down to that – whether it's a good or a bad film. And we need to produce more good films."
Anya Sacharow
Melania Trump, wife of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, stands on stage following the Republican presidential debate at St. Anselm College February 6, 2016 in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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In a photo for GQ earlier this year, Melania Trump sat in a white dress at a white table posed with a fork and spoon, twirling a thick platinum rope necklace in a bowl like a piece of bucatini.
While we know the future first lady subsists on more than precious metals, we know little about her food preferences – except that she eats seven pieces of fruit a day. Given this, it's impossible to discern how or if she will affect the culinary tone of the White House and the country at large—a role that typically falls to the first lady.
Indeed, food was on Michelle Obama's agenda before she got to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. According to Sam Kass, the Obama's former chef dating back to their Chicago days, the family was like all busy families — struggling to get healthy meals on the table for the kids.
"The first lady carried a lot of stress about making sure their daughters were getting what they needed to be healthy," says Kass, who went on to spend six years working with both Obamas at the White House. "That was the underpinning of where our approach and philosophies started to bond. "
Kass changed the Obama's diet—more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; less processed foods and desserts. As first lady, Michelle Obama passionately told her family's culinary story, especially how it benefited the health of her girls. She and Kass turned to broader health initiatives beyond the first family's table. They grew a vegetable garden on the South Lawn, launched the health and lifestyle initiative " Let's Move ," tackled school lunch reform and redrew the United States Department of Agriculture's food pyramid as a simplified icon called " My Plate. "
Kass recalls making the family dinner the night after the "My Plate" announcement. "The First Lady came into the kitchen and said, 'So, we're asking everybody across the country to make their plate look like "My Plate. " Every plate coming out of this kitchen better look like "My Plate. ""
President Barack Obama is handed a pair of gardening gloves as first lady Michelle Obama, second from right, and NBA basketball player Alonzo Mourning, left, watch during the harvest of the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn White House in Washington.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
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Michelle Obama has arguably prioritized healthier national eating habits more than any other FLOTUS in history. Past first ladies have had a range of appetites for politicizing the national fork, and the era dictates the initiative. During the Great Depression, Eleanor Roosevelt oversaw a White House of culinary austerity (and infamously bad food). With the help of Cornell University's School of Home Economics, she devised seven-and-a-half-cent meals, designed for both nutrition and economy, and shared these with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and their guests.
"It wasn't about flavor," says National First Ladies' Library historian Carl Anthony. "It was about simple, economic and nutritious. It was an important statement for that time. "
Eleanor Roosevelt did have one defining culinary pleasure: She liked to cook scrambled eggs herself in a chafing dish that was brought to her along with the ingredients. The Roosevelt Sunday supper consisted of the first lady's eggs, cold meat, salad and dessert from the kitchen.
Eleanor Roosevelt ladles soup into a bowl in the Grand Central Restaurant kitchen in New York City on Dec. 1, 1932 during the Great Depression. The U. S. president-elect's wife walked into the restaurant's kitchen to help feed unemployed women.
Associated Press
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Eleanor Roosevelt ladles soup into a bowl in the Grand Central Restaurant kitchen in New York City on Dec. 1, 1932 during the Great Depression. The U. S. president-elect's wife walked into the restaurant's kitchen to help feed unemployed women.
After Eleanor Roosevelt's Depression-era austerity, Mamie Eisenhower defined efficiency and thrift during her White House tenure in the 1950s. As a military wife, she had managed the family's finances for years. She kept an account of leftovers, and if an excess of turkey was in the kitchen after a dinner, she'd order the chefs to make turkey hash. Her famous saying was, "I could squeeze a dollar so tight, you could hear the eagle scream. " She was also enamored with the innovations of her day—gelatin and all manners of frozen, boxed and canned foods. " She wanted the White House kitchen staff to make full use of these things," Anthony explains.
In 1961, when Jacqueline Kennedy became first lady, she brought her impeccable taste for both French style and French food. She hired Gallic chef René Verdon to run the White House kitchen, banishing the bleak culinary era of previous administrations. Under Jackie Kennedy's instruction, White House menus were streamlined to three refined courses, including dishes such as poached salmon, rack of lamb and haricots vert aux amandes.
"Jackie wanted to show the sophistication of the U. S. to the eyes of the world," Anthony says. "In the Cold War we had come of age, and she felt that we must be considered equal to England, France and Russia. "
Changes in the White House kitchen were often as dramatic as a change in political Parties or the difference in age between a sitting president and the incoming president-elect. The generational pass-off between grandmotherly Barbara Bush and Hillary Rodham Clinton recalled the transition of the elder Mamie Eisenhower to a youthful Jackie Kennedy.
Like Jackie Kennedy, Hillary Clinton came to the role wanting to revamp White House food. Unlike Jackie Kennedy, her mandate was American food and wine as well as healthful menus and a flourish of global flavors. She tapped an American chef named Walter Scheib from the upscale Greenbrier resort in West Virginia. For his audition lunch, Scheib cooked a pecan-crusted lamb with morel sauce and red-curried sweet potatoes, which got him the gig. "It turned out that Mrs. Clinton's favorite meat is lamb," Scheib writes in his book White House Chef. "Her taste for spicy food made the curried sweet potatoes a big hit as well. "
"Food was of great interest to her," adds Anthony. "She came into the White House with a plan to make that real sense of diversity and regional American food reflected in the nation's house. "
The farm-to-table frenzy had yet to peak during the Clinton White House era. But Hillary Clinton's kitchen was on the cusp. Though Scheib stayed on when the Clintons left, he was at odds with Laura Bush's simpler demands of the kitchen: ready-made spare ribs, smoked turkey breast and other prepackaged food. He left in 2005. "The White House kitchen had become a more mundane place than I ever imagined it could be," Scheib writes.
We can't say yet what will come after Michelle Obama's era. Will Melania Trump articulate a culinary vision? "We presume that Melania Trump doesn't cook, but we don't know that," says Anthony. "Maybe she's sitting in the kitchen with her mom and making goulash. "
Anya Sacharow is the author of Brooklyn Street Style: the No-Rules Guide to Fashion. She writes, cooks and lives in Brooklyn.
Monster who 'honor killed' his sister will face murder charges Qandeel Baloch was a social media star who was known as "Pakistan's Kim Kardashian" until she was shockingly killed by her brother. He claimed it was an "honor killing," which will hopefully not be a successful defense in his murder trial.
John Glenn passed away at the age of 95. He lived a remarkable life, becoming the first American to orbit the Earth, among many other great achievements.
Miami cops let double amputee fall to the ground and leave her there While arresting Mary Brown for trespassing, Miami police officers knocked her to the ground. While that might not be uncommon, Brown is a double amputee who is confined to a wheelchair, making the move seem overly aggressive.
Berlin police have released footage of a seemingly random attack in a subway station. A man who appears to be drunk kicks an unsuspecting woman from behind, sending her flying down the stairs.
Knife-wielding teen is gunned down by school security Terrifying footage surfaced from a Nevada high school showing the moment a campus security officer shot a knife-wielding student. Allegedly there had been a fight on campus and the shooting victim had pulled a knife, refusing to drop it when the officer got involved.
A farmer in China saved his neighbor and potentially many more people when he discovered a burning gas tank. When he was unable to extinguish the flames, he pulled the tank out of the crowded residential area to a nearby pond, keeping his neighbors safe from a potential explosion.
Moon vacations are coming much sooner than you think Moon Express is boldly predicting that by 2026, they'll be sending commercial flights to the moon. They've been granted permission by the FAA, and they begin test launches next year, so they're off to a pretty good start.
Liberals, stop freaking out that Trump is 'Person of the Year' It's never surprising when a new controversy pops up around Donald Trump, but they're not always deserved. When the president-elect was named Time's "Person of the Year," Twitter users started freaking out, despite the fact that he perfectly fits the definition of what "Person of the Year" stands for.
New discovery shows the sky isn't the only place to find feathery creatures Over 90 percent of the world's oceans are undiscovered and home to a countless number of animals. A diver in the Netherlands recently captured footage of one of the most bizarre yet mesmerizing creatures of all, a swimming feathered crinoid, called the feather star.
Watch the same Apple store get robbed twice in one week There's one specific Apple store in San Francisco that seems to have the worst luck. Security footage shows thieves making off with the store's display items twice in one week.
What if I told you that B-alanine (BA), a precursor to the non-essential amino acid Carnosine (composed of the amino acids Alanine and Histidine), which is abundant in protein- rich foods like beef, chicken, pork, and certain fish - has now been shown to improve supramaximal cycling performance and anaerobic capacity (maximal work performed during short-term, maximum intensity physical effort) in test subjects, who were already well trained. It might sound too good to be true.
It's well known that B-alanine supplementation is an effective mode to support the concentrations of muscle Carnosine - without having to gorge yourself on protein-rich foods sources. And, that's not something you want to do right before a high performance training session or competition.
In fact, prior to this new research, previous results on the performance enhancing effect of BA have been somewhat inconclusive, especially in light of the fact that some of those studies used non-athletic test subjects.
Reporting in the December issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, researchers from Australia posed the following question prior to the start of their research: "Does BA supplementation provide additional benefits to the effect of SIT (sprint interval training) by allowing athletes to train at a higher interval training intensity and achieve a greater degree of training adaptation and, therefore, performance? "
These investigators defined SIT as, "repeated maximal efforts of short-duration (i.e.,
President Obama on Tuesday delivered his final defense of the nation's counter-terrorism strategy. He rightfully claimed progress on a number of fronts, including the death of Osama bin Laden , an end to waterboarding and the effective use of drones to kill terrorists. Just one week after the Islamic State -inspired attack in Columbus, Ohio, he also reiterated that there is no "war between the United States and Islam." Islamic State and Al Qaeda , he said, do not speak for Muslims everywhere.
To me and many of my former colleagues at the Central Intelligence Agency , such pronouncements reflect Obama's greatest blind spot in his fight against terrorism: he has been unwilling to acknowledge that Islamic ideology plays a role in what motivates terrorists to strike. Meanwhile, men like Imam Bujar Hysa, a jailed cleric in Albania, frame the war on terrorism quite succinctly: "Islam can coexist with other religions, but with democracy? No!"
Hysa isn't an anomaly. He is a Salafist Muslim — a sect also called Wahhabi — who follows an ultraconservative set of beliefs propagated by Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab nations. Wahhabis do not believe in a separation of church (mosque) and state. For them, government should be made up of religious clerics — and only clerics — that use the Koran to justify their decisions.
President-elect Donald Trump 's chosen national security advisor, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, has tried explaining this — albeit in impolite terms — by saying that "Islam is a political ideology based on a religion."
Flynn's poorly worded warning stems from experience, and he knows what happens when religious leaders take over governments. Women face widespread discrimination. Gay people are imprisoned or killed. Dancing, music and other forms of art are banned. And those who criticize Islam or convert to Christianity face prison or death.
However, what causes the most alarm to national security experts is the Wahhabi objective of global conquest. Islamic State and Al Qaeda are terrorist groups built on Wahhabi ideology. They want to govern the world under sharia law, and they are more than willing to achieve their goals through force. Islamic State is known for beheading its victims or burning them alive. And as we saw in Columbus, they're inspiring legions of supporters.
Which brings us back to Imam Hysa and his home nation Albania. The tiny Balkan country has a majority-Muslim population that — until recently — had a tradition of moderate, tolerant Islam. But the country is in the midst of Wahhabi radicalization, spread by Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf donors. The result? More than 100 citizens of Albania are now confirmed to have fought for Islamic State. That's roughly the same number as those sent from much larger nations such as Italy and Spain.
Albania is not alone. The easiest targets for Wahhabis are smaller countries and places where poverty and corruption run deep. Consider the struggling nation of Kosovo. Radical clerics and secretive associations have turned a once-tolerant Muslim society into a font of extremism.
In Afghanistan too, Saudi Arabia and its virulent strain of Islam are wrecking havoc.
Terrorism experts understand that larger, more stable nations are under threat as well. In Germany, the government recently launched a massive raid on the Wahhabi missionary group "The True Religion" because of its ties to Islamic State. This crackdown followed a wave of attacks on the German people last summer. In the words of Berlin's Interior Minister, Islamic terrorism is Germany's greatest domestic security threat. In a controversial step just days ago, German Chancellor Angela Merkel added her vocal opposition to the full-faced veil — a Salafist requirement for female worshipers.
The United States has also suffered the consequences of Islamist extremism and those inspired by the radical ideology. We remember San Bernardino. Boston. Ft. Hood. Little Rock. Garland. Chattanooga. Ft. Dix. Orlando. Shanksville. New York. Washington.
Muslims have every right to sit at the American table if they support the Constitution. We should all proudly acknowledge brave women and men like my former CIA colleague who led our nation's war on terrorism for more than 15 years; he's Shiite Muslim. This officer — whom I can't name because he's still officially under cover— was ruthless in his hunt for radical killers, and he deserves a medal for his years of sacrifice.
Are we at war with the whole of Islam, or should we be? Of course not. But Islam is a faith in crisis, and to deny that certain strains of the religion are contributing to global instability is to deny reality.
After eight years as president, Obama still doesn't understand that.
With luck and wisdom, President Trump will fare better. My hope is that he and others in his administration will go out of their way to embrace loyal Muslim Americans, even as they publicly acknowledge that this proud faith is struggling to shed itself of a cancerous evil.
Many Oakland warehouse fire questions are still unanswered , how will Hollywood speak to Trump's America , meet Wilbur Ross, the man Trump has tapped him to lead the U. S. Department of Commerce , and the L. A. City Council hopes to end 'mansionization.'
Flowers placed near the site of the Oakland warehouse fire. Video by Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times
Protesting the Dakota Access pipeline (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Beyonce leads today's Grammy nominations with nine , California's new legislative session began in dramatic fashion , Ben Carson is Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development , and former L. A. County Sheriff Lee Baca was once a powerful and celebrated lawman but now he's at the center of a public corruption trial.
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor , the only soldier who went to jail in the scandal over the National Guard bonuses, why you'll be paying more for your Christmas tree this year, and a new development from ancient scientists: The Earth is moving slower than it used to .
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor , the only soldier who went to jail in the scandal over the National Guard bonuses, why you'll be paying more for your Christmas tree this year, and a new development from ancient scientists: The Earth is moving slower than it used to .
We don't know yet if a jury hearing a murder case in Orleans Parish will decide that Cardell Hayes, the man who fatally shot to death former Saints defensive end Will Smith, is guilty of a crime. But surely we've heard enough to judge Richard Hernandez , a passenger in Smith's Mercedes SUV, a little lacking in the chivalry department.
Testimony from multiple witnesses suggests that of all the folks present when Hayes' Hummer collided with Smith's Mercedes April 9 that Hernandez was the one most eager to fight. Reportedly, Hernandez stripped to the waist to demonstrate to the men in Hayes' vehicle that he was ready to throw down. But then when gunfire rang out, Hernandez - and only Hernandez - fled the scene.
His dead friend, his dead friend's wounded wife and his own wife were all left behind.
Hernandez's wife, Rebecca Dooley, is a friend of Smith's wife and was also a passenger in the Smiths' SUV. She testified Wednesday that after Hayes fired his weapon her husband hopped in a nearby taxi and rode off. Even though other testimony at the trial suggests that Hernandez was a chief instigator of the violence that erupted, when Dooley first spoke to the New Orleans Police Department about the night's events, she failed to mention her husband's involvement.
Was Dooley trying to obstruct the investigation? Or was she just too embarrassed to tell anybody that she was married to a man who pulled a George Costanza on her by leaving her behind in potential danger?
In the Seinfeld episode George is at a child's birthday party, smells smoke and then knocks over an elderly lady and pushes children out of the way to escape what he thinks is a burning building. Hernandez left his wife on the scene with a man who'd just repeatedly fired his gun.
How many "Baby, I'm sorrys" do you have to say, how many apology rings do you have to buy, before you're let back in the house after such a disappearing act?
If you've been paying attention to the news in 2016, you may have found yourself wondering what in the world is wrong with men, if there's any hope for us. For example, in March, Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican presidential candidate, spoke of his opponent Donald Trump's allegedly small hands. With that put-down Rubio was suggesting that another part of Trump's anatomy is undersized. Trump took time during the next debate to insist that part of his anatomy is plenty big enough, " I guarantee. " And, thus, we had men vying for the most important and powerful office in the world using their time before the public to talking about penis size.
Personally, I didn't think there was any stronger argument for a woman president than that exchange between Rubio and Trump. A majority of voters agreed, but to no avail. Trump won.
The Bourbon Street shooting that killed one and wounded nine people Bayou Classic weekend? New Orleans police believe two men from Lafayette opened fire on one another on a street clogged with pedestrians because a woman dated one of them and then dated the other. So one person's life was ended and others were struck by bullets apparently because the two men in question couldn't separate the past from the present.
The Hayes trial and the conflict that ended Joe McKnight Jr.'s life last week are two more examples of men finding it impossible to deal with their conflicts without resorting to violence. Ronald Gasser, the man booked with manslaughter in McKnight's death, reportedly became upset when McKnight cut him off in traffic as both men were headed to the West Bank via the Crescent City Connection.
Apparently, Gasser couldn't just let it go; he gave chase. Apparently, McKnight couldn't let it go either. The two men apparently were yelling at one another through open windows as they drove, and McKnight, according to authorities, got out of his car when the cars stopped at Behrman Highway and Holmes Road. That's when Gasser, who had a previous road-rage arrest at the same intersection 10 years ago, shot McKnight dead.
In the Hayes trial, a man who said he watched events unfold from a window inside his house testified that seconds after the two SUVs collided he saw Hernandez jump out, strip off his shirt and move toward Hayes and his passenger, Kevin O'Neal.
Hernandez is 5-foot-8. O'Neal is 6-foot-4. Hayes is even bigger at 6-foot-6. "He was ridiculous," the witness said of Hernandez. "He (was) very sporadic, like he was going to charge into a brawl. I thought he was going to get dropped. It was totally ridiculous. "
And, then, after all that bluster Hernandez left his wife behind to fend for herself.
Chivalry must be rolling over in its grave.
Jarvis DeBerry is deputy opinions editor at NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. He can be reached at jdeberry@nola.com. Follow him at twitter.com/jarvisdeberry .
Rustam He said: 'After we allowed Evnika to destroy everything in her room, and make a hole with her bare hands in the door, her performance in school actually improved. 'In our house we have always had the rule that the walls belong to the children to draw on, scratch, smear clay, rip wallpaper - anything short of a hammer. 'They can do whatever they like with their bare hands but we did not allow for the fact that our children are getting bigger while the house remains the same. 'Besides who knew that we would have a daughter who can destroy walls and doors with her bare hands. If you want to test the strength of your door, call Evnika!' Evnika recently appeared on Russian reality TV show Luchshe Vseh (Better Than Anyone Else) to show off her skills. She managed to punch an electronic board held by Russian boxing legend Nikolai Valuev an incredible 221 times in 30 seconds. The youngster first showed off her talent when she was just five-years-old in a clip that quickly went viral online. Last year, she also appeared in a video shared online of her destroying the bark of a birch tree with her fast and furious punches.
The economy performed strongly in the months after the Brexit vote, official figures have revealed.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO), whose incredible growth figures earlier in the year were branded "leprechaun economics", showed Ireland is on course to have the fastest- growing economy in Europe this year.
The value of all business in the country, measured by gros s domestic product, jumped by 4% in the three months to September, the CSO said.
Irish-owned enterprises enjoyed growth of 3.2%, suggesting there are little or no signs that the UK's decision to split from Europe has yet affected Irish trade.
The economic measurements used for the CSO's previous report in July were roundly criticised when the CSO and Finance Minister Michael Noonan noted a reported growth in the economy of more than 26%.
Economists warned that official reports on economic performance should look more closely at the number of people in work and how spending is changing.
The latest review by the CSO, covering July, August and September, showed personal consumption of goods and services increased by 0.7% while overall domestic demand down by 1.8%.
Pop star Justin Bieber will move his Purpose universe debate to a BST festival in Hyde Park, it has been announced.
The thespian will play to 65,000 fans during a alfresco venue on 2 July, 2017. He has also announced a date for Cardiff's Principality Stadium on 30 June.
It comes a day after a star's single, Sorry, was suggested as a most-streamed video of 2016 .
According to video site Vevo, a video was seen 1.8 billion times worldwide, and 87 million times in a UK.
Bieber is adult for manuscript of a year during a Grammy Awards, where he perceived 7 nominations progressing this week.
The BST festival has gained a repute for engagement some of music's biggest stars for one-off, disdainful performances.
Last summer's festival saw Carole King play her initial UK uncover for some-more than 25 years and Stevie Wonder recreating his magnum opus , Songs in a Key of Life, in full.
Bieber is not utterly as fugitive as those stars, carrying played 18 dates in a UK this year – including dual title sets during a V Festival in Chelmsford and Staffordshire.
He has gained a repute for testy theatre poise – job Instagram "the devil" and perfectionist his fans sojourn still in between songs.
"The screaming in these breaks has got to stop. Please and appreciate you," he pronounced on theatre in Manchester.
"I don't consider it's required when I'm perplexing to contend something and we guys are screaming."
He addressed a outburst on Twitter, in a fibre of tweets that have given been deleted.
"There's times when we get upset," he said.
"Times when we get angry, there's time's when I'm going to be frustrated. But I'm always going to be myself on stage."
Support for his BST shows comes from cocktail acts Tove Lo, Anne-Marie and Martin Garrix.
The 2017 BST festival has formerly announced title slots from Green Day, Kings of Leon and Phil Collins.
Follow us on Facebook , on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts , or on Instagram during bbcnewsents. If we have a story idea email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk .
Good King Wenceslas has become Good King Wences-lost in the latest mind-bending puzzle to baffle the internet. In the popular carol, the kind-hearted ruler and his page head out into the snow to deliver winter fuel to a poor villager. But in this brain-teaser he has lost his way amid a forest of pine trees, so can you spot him? His loyal page - at the bottom of the picture, by the village - is about to set out on his quest to find his master and the creators of the puzzle are calling for internet users to help him find the King. An image of a ballet dancer hidden among a flock of flamingos also left the internet well and truly stumped. The mind-bending puzzle features dozens of the brightly-coloured birds against a green background but the figure hidden among them is deceptively difficult to spot. Internet users are claiming to spend anything from 30 seconds to five minutes trying to locate the dancer, which is well hidden due to her bright pink dress. So can YOU spot her? The puzzle, designed by Dancewear Central, was created to raise awareness of ballet and dance.
An Ohio State University (OSU) student who attempted to go on a stabbing spree last month before being gunned down by a nearby officer has been added to a protest list of non-whites "wrongly" shot and killed by a police.
The OSU Coalition for Black Liberation is a campus protest group on OSU's main campus in Columbus. The group held a rally Wednesday to protest the death of young black men at the hands of police, and read off a list of non-white men who had been killed by police in the last two months. Among the names read off was that of Abdul Razak Ali Artan.
Artan, of course, is the man who attempted to kill his classmates last week by attacking them with his car and then going on a stabbing spree. He was gunned down by OSU policeman Alan Horujko, who arrived on the scene just minutes after the rampage began and swiftly neutralized Artan.
Organizers of the protest said that Artan's particular actions were irrelevant.
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A statement posted to the institution's official Weibo account early on Friday confirmed the incident had taken place. The teacher involved has now been dismissed in accordance with Chinese law, according to the statement. Senior officials at the college also visited the students involved and Lu Ping was asked to apologise to them. Further, the college plans to start a campaign promoting awareness into the expected behaviour from teachers. This is not the first extreme punishment of Chinese students. MailOnline previously reported on how a 10-year-old pupil jumped to his death 'on teacher's orders'. The school, based in Chengdu, claimed the incident was an accident.
Lebanese documentary director Eliane Raheb, whose well-regarded "Sleepless Nights" screened in Dubai's Muhr competition in 2012, returns to the fest this year with the world premiere of the poignant "Those Who Remain." It focuses on handsome, aging Haykal Mikhael, a true salt of the earth type, who stubbornly maintains a farm and restaurant on the slope of the Al Shambouk mountain in the Akkar region of Lebanon. Haykal is a Maronite Christian, living in a Christian enclave that borders on both Sunni Muslim and Shia Muslim villages and is within clear sight of Syria.
I saw Haykal as a metaphor of Lebanon so I tried to use his story to reflect on the people who really want to stay in this difficult, tense region and their personal and political challenges," Raheb notes.
Despite his strong connection with the land, Haykal faces many problems that show why agriculture has stagnated in the area. The roads that lead to his farm and restaurant are pocked with massive potholes and practically impassible during winter unless the snows is ploughed. Dust from the neighboring quarries covers his crops during the growing season. Then there are the local sectarian tensions, plus the political and economic repercussions of the Syrian crisis. As opportunists buy out desperate Syrian farmers at dirt cheap prices, they then undercut the prices at which Lebanese farmers need to sell their crops and livestock. And to top it off, there's an ongoing court case over the ownership of the farm.
Raheb met Haykal in 2014, through a friend who hikes in the area. "I decided to make the film in 2015 and started the shooting at the end of 2015," she recounts. The crew was relatively small (five people) and they shot 10 days, spread over three seasons. "He is a very open person and it was not difficult for him to share personal stories."
In addition to Haykal, Raheb interviewed the opinionated Muslim woman who works for him, the urbane local doctor whose family is behind the lawsuit over the farmland, a Muslim from the neighboring village whose purchase of land in the Christian enclave creates problems in some quarters, a volunteer militia-like watch group and a Christian zealot who campaigns to keep Muslims out of the Christian neighborhood, despite the fact that the Muslim neighbors had long preserved an ancient Maronite church. "The fanatical guy belongs to a movement called "my land, my church" and he tries to impose his acts disregarding the municipality decision," says Raheb. "He represents when the state is totally absent and small groups and fanatical parties take over the power and impose their laws."
Raheb, who also teaches film at Beirut's St. Joseph University, has multiple docu projects in the works. In Berlin this spring, she nabbed the top prize of the Robert Bosch Stiftung for her Lebanese/German project "Miguel's War." She also received funding from the Doha Film Institute for the Lebanese-French-Qatar project, "The Great Family," about a Lebanese adopted child growing up in France who discovers she is a survivor of the massacre at the Tal Al Zaatar Palestinian refugee camp.
David Warner bludgeoned his way to 156 to set Australia on their way to a 117-run win over New Zealand which completed a 3-0 one-day international series whitewash. The opener smashed his match-winning score, which contained 13 fours and four sixes, off 128 balls, lasting the entire innings before he was run out by Trent Boult with the final ball of the 50th over. Warner contributed well over half of the hosts' total of 264 for eight in Melbourne, and it proved more than enough as New Zealand slumped to 147 all out in reply. Warner received precious little support from his partners at the crease. Fellow opener Aaron Smith went for three and captain Steve Smith for a duck, both to Boult who finished with figures of three for 49, as Australia slumped to 11 for two. But they recovered and George Bailey's 51-ball 23 and Travis Head's 70-ball 37 gave Warner the stability he needed to take the match away from the Black Caps. With the ball, Mitchell Starc proved the tourists' tormentor-in-chief with three for 34, including the wickets of Henry Nicholls, Colin Munro and Mitchell Santner. Opener Martin Guptill, one of two victims for Head, who impressed with the ball as well as the bat, was New Zealand's top scorer with 34 as they fell well short of their target and were all out within 37 overs.
Stranger Things' lead actress Millie Bobbie Brown has been hailed as Hollywood's biggest new name and is in line to rake in more than $3 million a film at the tender age of 12. And the boys of Netflix's breakout hit of the year also showed off their star power as they filmed scenes for season two of the nostalgic, sci-fi drama in Atlanta on Thursday. Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin were spotted riding away on their trusty bikes as they undoubtedly attempted to get to the bottom of the spooky goings-on in the city of Hawkins. Scroll down for video Season one of the show, which pays homage to 1980s genre films, was based around the disappearance of 12-year-old Will (Noah Schnapp) and the discovery of a psychokinetic girl Eleven (Millie Bobbie Brown). And while the two weren't present on set, their co-stars were right in character as they braved the darkness to solve more mysteries in the small make-believe city in Indiana. Finn, 13, who plays Mike Wheeler on the show and develops quite the crush on Eleven (Elle), was spotted peddling away on his bike with his pals. Caleb, who takes on the role of Lucas, and Gaten, who plays Dustin, were later spotted filming together. Quite a different weekday night for the average teen, the boys kept the camaraderie alive as they flashed smiles in-between scenes. The cult hit, which also stars nineties grunge favourite Winona Ryder, racked up 8.2 million viewers in the first 16 days since its release in July. It draws influences from the work of the likes of George Lucas, John Carpenter and Steven Spielberg, with the latter hailing it as the best show of the year. The boys were seen for the first time on the Stranger Things set in Atlanta last month, alongside fellow cast-members Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton and Joe Keery. While Millie was noticeably missing, the show's directing duo Ross & Matt Duffer confirmed her participation in the second series. They shared an upside down black and white picture of the first table reading of the second season script and Millie was front and center on it. However, it's unclear just how many episodes Eleven - who was based on E. T. - will be in after vanishing into ash with the monster in the finale. '011 is back! It's official!' the British tween proudly announced to her 3M social media followers with a black and white snap with her co-stars. 'Can't wait to be back working with this lovely cast again for #strangerthings thank you to the amazing duffer brothers for having el back for a second season!' Millie, who was named as Teen Vogue's Breakout Star of 2016, was described by industry bible Variety as harbouring 'the kind of presence some actors take a lifetime to acquire [and] is about to be cast in a lot of projects.' And while she is set to command millions for her upcoming Hollywood projects, her parents nearly went bankrupt after they moved from the UK to LA to back her stardom. Stranger Things returns to Netflix in 2017.
Formula One World Champion Damon Hill was left taken aback when his wife produced a Christmas wishlist that included a crocodile-skin handbag with a £165,935.25 price tag. Londoner Hill, 56, tweeted a picture of the pink Hermès Birkin bag, which is encrusted with pink sapphires, for sale on the pre-owned fashion site Vestiaire Collective today. He accompanied the photo with the comment: 'My wife has just shown me this.... No bloody way. #Handbags' The sporting legend's fans were not impressed with her request - with one even insisting: 'A divorce would be cheaper!' The handbag has been listed on the site since June but has yet to sell - perhaps because of the hefty price tag - but perhaps Damon's wife figured her husband's wallet would be up to the task. The driver, who has four children with his wife Susan, 55, has an estimated net worth of £22.5million. Luxury brand Hermes is adored by celebrities such as Victoria Beckham and Kim Kardashian, who are often spotted out with their iconic Birkin bags. Despite the clearly luxurious finish to the bag and the expensive materials used, Hill's stunned followers wasted no time in sharing their thoughts on the bag. Many were in agreement that the bag was extremely overpriced. Jonny Bowers joked to Damon that: 'Divorce would be cheaper!' Girl in the Pitlane added: 'sorry I think I just hallucinated. Seriously £166k?? For a handbag??... You may be able to get one at half the price in TK Maxx'. Others were confused by the addition of the 25p to the already eye-watering price tag. Omar tweeted to say: 'Do they really need to charge that extra 25p? A bit OTT if you ask me...' The seller, who is based in France, might say the fine craftsmanship justifies the figure. The item description reads: 'A unique, exceptional piece. Never worn. BIRKIN 30 model handbag. Smooth, Tyrien pink porosus crocodile. 'Fastening set with pink sapphires. Receipt and quote (December 2013). Diamond and precious metal certificate. C 'Characteristics of jewelry: White gold 176.3 grams Numbered fastening: 205 x pink sapphires/11.02 carats Numbered jeweled padlock in its case. 40 x pink sapphires/2.01 carats.' Trevor Jones agreed adding: '25p is too much in my opinion...' While EpicF1 pondered: 'question is, if you bought it in store would they charge you an extra 5p because it's a bag?!' In 2015 a bag of this very style was named the most expensive in the world after it sold for £150,000 at auction in Hong Kong. It was sold at a Christie's auction for a final price of 1.72 million Hong Kong dollars (£150,000) in June 2015. Hill is the son of Graham Hill, and, along with Nico Rosberg, one of only two sons of a Formula One world champion to win the title. Hill became a test driver for the Formula One title-winning Williams team in 1992. He became champion in 1996 with eight wins, but was dropped by Williams for the following season. He went on to drive for the less competitive Arrows and Jordan teams, and in 1998 gave Jordan their first win. Hill retired from racing after the 1999 season. He has since launched several businesses and has made appearances playing the guitar with celebrity bands.
President-elect Donald Trump is considering giving his daughter Ivanka the First Lady role for at least a year as his wife, Melania , stays on in New York to see their youngest son finish elementary school. Slovenian-born Melania is reportedly keen to stay in New York until 10-year-old Barron finishes in final year at a prestigious private elementary school in the city. Heat Street report that Ivanka, who played a key role in his campaign, may be angling to play the role of the ceremonial sidekick. Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, have reportedly been house-hunting in Washington DC. The couple both attended last month's meeting between President-elect Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which was seen as a breach of diplomatic protocol, especially as Ivanka was in the process of launching her new fashion range in Japan at the time. Kushner's father Charles, a multi-millionaire real estate developer, was ironically jailed in 2005 for tax evasion, witness tampering and making illegal donations to the then Governor of New Jersey, Jim McGreevey, a Democrat. The current Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, was one of the first big names in the Republican Party to endorse Trump but his hopes of landing a key job in Trump's Cabinet seem to have been dashed. Ivanka and her husband are both understood to be influential figures in the transition team, who the President-elect holds in high regard. Former House Speaker John Boehner yesterday compared Trump to Teddy Roosevelt, who he said was another 'larger than life' character. Roosevelt dispatched his daughter, Alice, on a global tour that took her to Japan, China, and the Philippines.
She's been sporting a heavy, choppy fringe of late. And Katie Holmes proved her statement hairdo can be versatile when she stepped out in New York City on Thursday, scraping her brunette locks back into a top knot. The 37-year-old actress looked effortlessly stylish in a white mohair knit as she strutted down the street. Scroll down for video She paired her comfy top with skinny jeans and simple ankle boots, a brown leather bag slung over one shoulder. Katie kept her look simple, sporting a white vest top underneath her jumper. The star highlighted her features with plenty of bronzer, adding a touch of glamour to her ultra relaxed look. Katie has been hard at work promoting her new film, All We Had, which marks her directorial debut. The actress stars alongside 18-year-old Stefania Owen in the drama about a mother who finds herself living in a car with her daughter and looking for a new start. Holmes said it's a specific story but one she can relate to thanks to her close bond with daughter Suri, 10, who she shares with ex-husband Tom Cruise. 'I think the universal theme of that love you have for your daughter and that love you have for your mother is so powerful. And I think that is very relatable wherever you fit in economically,' Holmes said. 'And definitely being a daughter and being a mother, I understand that love and that bond. And I think it something that should be highlighted and celebrated in film.' The movie, based on Annie Weatherwax's novel, is set during the 2007 economic crisis and features Holmes teetering on the edge of poverty. It co-stars Luke Wilson, Richard Kind and Mark Consuelos and is released this Friday.
The moment an innocent motorist was nearly wiped out in the M1 fast lane as road rage bubbled over between two duelling drivers at 70mph was captured by horrifying dashcam footage. Simon Day, 58, was driving from London on the M1, near south Leicester last month when a feud erupted between a Mercedes van and a blue Toyota Prius. Construction worker Mr Day saw the van pull into the outside lane in front of the Prius, forcing him to break and swerve towards the central reservation, agitating the driver - who decides to get revenge by 'brake testing' his rival. The footage shows the Prius then pull in front of the van and slam on his brakes at 70mph, leaving the van unable to stop in time so he swerves into Mr Day's lane, crashing into him. The crash resulted in around £1,500 worth of damage to Mr Day's blue BMW 320 - and almost sent him flying into the central reservation. Neither the Prius or van driver stopped after the smash. Mr Day, from Nottingham said: 'It's nasty and it's bad driving. 'I think it is abysmal. The driver in the Prius is a complete k**b and needs to be stopped. 'I would love to ring the police and give them his registration number because I'm sure he would lose his license but you can't see it in the video. 'I want to raise awareness to these dangers. It could've killed me. 'I think it's shocking that these b******s didn't stop. They decided to leg it. 'I've got the number for the van. It's clearly visible and my insurance have already spoken to the company about it but it's the Prius car who retaliated. 'I was behind the Prius and the van forced its way out to overtake and the Prius driver gets angry about it. 'I saw something was up with the Prius so I wanted to get past them. I knew that he would be angry with the driver. 'I just wanted to get ahead and I pulled forward but unfortunately the Prius break tested and the van had to go right and then it clipped me. 'I broke sharply and thought 'oh god'. 'I didn't know how badly the car had been damaged until I had a look at the service station.' Mr Day's car has been in repair since the incident where it was discovered that the car's front grill was broken, the bonnet was crushed and the headlights had been pushed into the engine. Mr Day claims that the cost to this damage will be around £1500. Mr Day said: 'The majority of people I have showed this to have been quite shocked and said the Prius driver is a complete and utter idiot. 'However some have said I was hogging the lane but I was driving completely safely, I couldn't go in another lane. 'It's a good example of why you should have a camera in your car.' Express Bifolding Doors Ltd, who the van driver was working for, were contacted for comment. A spokesperson said: 'As this matter is currently in the hands of our motor insurers, we are not at liberty to disclose any information surrounding the accident circumstances. The insurers of the BMW are in touch with our insurers and will be discussing the case accordingly.'
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Anger and anguish were evident in a New Orleans courtroom Thursday as a friend of the man on trial for killing retired Saints star Will Smith repeatedly insisted that Smith and his friends were the aggressors following an April 9 traffic crash that was followed by heated words and multiple gunshots.
Kevin O'Neal is a longtime friend of second-degree murder defendant Cardell Hayes. And he was a passenger in Hayes' Hummer when it ran into Smith's Mercedes SUV.
"He attacked this man from the beginning," O'Neal said of Smith as he was questioned by Orleans Parish Assistant District Attorney Laura Rodrigue.
Pointing to Hayes, he added: "At no point in time — my God's honest truth — did I ever see the man get angry or attack anyone at the scene of this crime."
O'Neal repeatedly said Hayes displayed no hostility or aggression.
"He's got a loaded .45 in his hand," Rodrigue said.
Questions and answers sometimes drifted from facts of the case to the effects of the shooting on those left behind. Rodrigue showed O'Neal and the jury a picture of one of Smith's three children and lamented that Smith didn't live to see the boy's approaching 8th birthday.
"I'm sorry," O'Neal said. "Cardell's already missed his son's birthday."
Hayes has been jailed since the shooting.
At one point a woman could be heard crying in the area of spectators where Smith's widow, Racquel, who was hit in the legs by gunfire, was sitting with supporters.
At another time, defense attorney John Fuller angrily leapt to his feet and demanded a mistrial after Rodrigue read remarks, attributed to O'Neal, that Fuller was a "sellout" who "gets people off on technicalities when they're guilty." State District Judge Camille Buras denied the motion. O'Neal later said the remarks were taken out of context.
Unlike other witnesses, O'Neal gave no indication that the April 9 argument had cooled before shots were fired. He agreed with previous witnesses that Racquel Smith had tried to push her husband back and calm him down. "He was throwing her off," O'Neal said.
The defense doesn't dispute that Hayes fired the shots. At issue is whether he was the aggressor or he legitimately feared for his life and safety in the dispute that followed the crash.
O'Neal said he and Hayes were set upon by Smith and "an entourage" following the crash. They did not realize who Smith was at the time of the shooting, O'Neal said.
Under questioning from Rodrigue, O'Neal said he tried to restrain Smith for a time but also intervened as two other friends of Smith tried to rush Hayes. He said the last time he saw Smith alive, Racquel Smith was trying to push Smith away from the confrontation.
Racquel Smith and witness Pierre Thomas, a friend and former teammate of Smith's, had testified earlier that Racquel had succeeded in calming Smith, bolstering the prosecution assertion that there was no reason for Hayes to shoot the unarmed Smith.
O'Neal painted a scene of post-accident chaos in which at least two people with Smith display hostility. He said one of Smith's friends, later identified as Richard Hernandez, had exited Smith's SUV and had stripped off his shirt — a sign, Hernandez acknowledged on the stand Wednesday, that he was preparing for a fight.
Prosecutors have downplayed any threat the two men might have posed, saying both of Smith's friends were smaller than Hayes and O'Neal. Defense attorney John Fuller and O'Neal indicated Hernandez appeared menacing. "He had tattoos on his face. Tattoos everywhere," O'Neal said.
No facial tattoos were visible when Hernandez testified Wednesday. Fuller suggested Hernandez was wearing makeup or the tattoos had been removed. Rodrigue indicated during her questioning that O'Neal might have misidentified Hernandez.
Smith's death came at the end of a day when he and his wife had attended a festival in the French Quarter, spent time at a bar and two restaurants. They, and friends in other vehicles, were heading toward downtown New Orleans after leaving the last restaurant when the incidents leading to the shooting began.
Video from businesses on New Orleans' Magazine Street shows Smith's SUV stopping short — perhaps lightly hitting — an orange Hummer, driven by Hayes. Moments later, Hayes' Hummer rear-ended Smith's SUV a few blocks away. Prosecutors say it was a willful ramming. The defense says it was an accident as Hayes was attempting to get a license number and call 911 after the earlier bump.
Hayes was armed when he got out of the Hummer. Smith was not armed but there was a loaded gun in Smith's vehicle. The defense says Smith was moving to get the gun when Hayes fired, hitting Racquel Smith in the legs and Will Smith once in the side and seven times in the back.
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She's never been one to hide her curves from the public eye. And now, Jemma Lucy is back to her old tricks as she teased at her ample cleavage in a in a figure-hugging black ensemble as she enjoyed a night on the tiles in Manchester. The 28-year-old reality star opted to forgo a bra for the outing as her daring mini dress featured eye-popping cutouts that displayed her buxom bust and teased at her intimate inkings as she sauntered to her destination. Scroll down for video Jemma sizzled in her skintight sleeveless wardrobe staple that not only exhibited her assets but also her taut stomach and toned thighs with a number of chic diamond cutouts that travelled diagonally across her gym honed body. Giving December the cold shoulder, much like her bra, she went without a coat during her evening out, braving the plummeting temperatures in the name of fashion. Injecting height into her petite frame, she slipped on a pair of sultry sky-high heels that featured lace-up detail that wrapped around her slender ankles and flashed her pedicured feet. Jemma styled her long glossy raven-coloured locks into a centre parting as they cascaded down her back into a straight style. Accentuating her brown peepers, she applied a bronze shadow across the lid before applying lashings of mascara to her lashes to amp up vampish features. As ever, she completed her look by flaunting her many intricate tattoos across her legs and arms as she held onto her black clutch with her bangle laden hand. Meanwhile, Jemma recently caused controversy earlier this month when she uploaded a topless selfie to Instagram. However her moment being the centre of attention was short-lived after a user reported the snap, causing it to be removed from the site. 'Whoever the f*** it is that keeps reporting my pictures needs to get over their sad pathetic little life', she ranted, uploading the snap to Instagram. The original snap showed the tattooed reality star standing topless against a brick wall, fully made up as she seductively sucked on an ice cube while she held another in front of her nipple. The offending nipples were covered by two triangle emojis, and she captioned the racy shot: 'Eating ice and icing up my nipples cos that's what I do on Sundays (sic)'.
Romantic havens such as the Maldives, Tahiti and Fiji have long been popular honeymoon destinations for the rich and famous. But it appears that these days Australian celebrities such as Jesinta Campbell and Buddy Franklin, and George Burgess and his new bride Joanna King are opting to stay in their own backyard. Byron Bay has particularly become the hub of romance, with several celebrity couples flocking to the picturesque New South Wales coastal town for their post-wedding getaways in the past few months. Scroll down for video Buddy and Jesinta just returned from their honeymoon in the quaint hippy town, while E! host Ksenija Lukich, model Bambi Northwood-Blyth and actress Tessa James have all celebrated their nuptials there in the past. Despite its beachside setting, Byron is also famous for being home to some of Australia's most lavish luxury retreats and restaurants. Hot on the heels of their exclusive wedding in Queensland's Noosa, Rabbitohs star George Burgess and his heavily-pregnant wife Joanna headed straight for Byron to mark their first days as husband and wife. Sharing a snap of her burgeoning baby bump in a bikini while surrounded by lush tropical gardens, the beauty ambassador wrote: 'Honey/Babymooning,' alongside the hash-tag: '22 weeks'. The young couple also paid a visit to The Farm at Byron Bay, which houses hatted restaurant Three Blue Ducks and is a must-see for travellers. Sporting white overalls and showing off a hint of belly, the 28-year-old beamed as she wrapped her arm around her handsome beau. Jesinta Campbell and her Sydney Swans star husband Buddy stayed at Rae's on Wategos, which costs between $600 and $1,400 per night. After tying the knot in a top secret ceremony in the NSW Blue Mountains on November 2nd, the glamourous couple made their way to the Gold Coast in Queensland, where they began their honeymoon. They then drove down to the idyllic Byron for a few nights' stay at the luxury resort. They kept the trip mostly private, however, Jesinta did show off some beautiful snapshots of the town shared via her Instagram stories. In October, television presenter Ksenija Lukich took to Instagram to show off a glimpse of her holiday with husband Dan, whom she married after eight years of dating. The loved-up pair also stayed at the same resort as Jesinta and Buddy. Showing off her enviable physique in a bikini, the 26-year-old wrote: 'Snooze, tan, rinse repeat.' She also shared a couple's shot with her new husband, with both of them sporting a fresh-faced glow. Another snap showed the brunette lounging on a day bed while reading in her dressing gown, with the lush green gardens peeking through the arched windows behind her. Meanwhile, back in 2014, Ksubi designer Dan Single and his wife Bambi holidayed in Byron after tying the knot in a beautiful garden ceremony. The fashionable couple travelled in a huge campervan-style coach, which was shared on Bambi's Instagram. The 22-year-old also took advantage of the seaside location, seen enjoying a surf in one of her photos. Former Home And Away actress Tessa James and her Manly Warringah Sea Eagles husband were also spotted enjoying a swim in Byron after their wedding back in 2012.
The constant demand for success in the Premier League, especially among the best sides, means the upper echelons of the top flight are often considered a bad place for young players to develop. But that may not be the case, with second-placed Arsenal having given graduates from the club's academy the most appearances and most minutes in the Premier League this season. Arsene Wenger has used Hector Bellerin, Francis Coquelin, Alex Iwobi, Kieran Gibbs and - prior to his loan move to Bournemouth - Jack Wilshere as he mounts a challenge for the title. And the five players have totted up 2555 minutes between them over 39 appearances since the start of the season. The figures, assembled by @thfcacademy , also show that their north London rivals Spurs are high achievers in terms of using academy graduates, using five players who the club developed. Harry Kane, Danny Rose, Harry Winks, Joshua Onomah and Tom Carroll were all either trained by or signed for the club prior to the age of 18 without making a single first-team appearance elsewhere, which was the measure used. Mauricio Pochettino has used them less frequently than Wenger has used his own academy graduates, giving them 29 appearances and 1716 minutes this season. Middlesbrough slot in between Arsenal and Spurs for appearances, although interestingly neither of their two academy players used - Ben Gibson and Stewart Downing - is under the age of 21. Manchester United have also impressed in terms of giving academy graduates an opportunity this season. They rank fifth in the Premier League, having given Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Tim Fosu-Mensah 1162 minutes this season. Five Premier League sides have failed to use a single player from their academy this season - Watford, Bournemouth, Hull, Swansea and Stoke. Liverpool, who have received praise for using young players under Jurgen Klopp, have actually been the worst team among those who have used any graduates. They have given just two substitute appearances to graduates. Ben Woodburn, who scored against Leeds in the League Cup, is one of them, while Ovie Ejaria is the other player to have been given an opportunity. The league leaders Chelsea have given more young players opportunities than in recent seasons, but they still come only 12th in the rankings for minutes played by graduates. Nathaniel Chalobah, Ola Aina, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and veteran John Terry are the players Antonio Conte has used. Southampton, unsurprisingly, are joint first for the number of graduates used - five. Claude Puel has given Premier League debuts to Sam McQueen, Josh Sims, Harrison Reed since he took over the club.
DUBLIN, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Irish gross domestic product growth sped up in the three months to the end of September, expanding by 4 percent quarter-on-quarter to stand 6.9 percent higher than it was a year ago, data showed on Friday. Ireland's economic growth rate is forecast to be the highest in the European Union for a third successive year in 2016, but data were mixed in the three months after Britain voted in June to leave the European Union, a major risk to neighbouring Ireland's economy. The quarterly jump, which followed a weaker-than-expected start to the year for GDP, was driven by a 0.7 percent quarterly rise in personal consumption and a 1.7 percent rise in exports. Imports fell 8.6 percent on the quarter. The relevance of using GDP to measure the true health of the Ireland's open economy was called into question in July when growth for 2015 was revised up to 26 percent after a massive revision to the stock of capital assets. Many economists prefer to use employment as a gauge of how the economy is faring and it continues to grow strongly. The jobless rate fell to 7.3 percent last month, even as consumer sentiment weakened and robust retail sales growth slowed down. Before last year's revisions, Irish economic growth had still significantly outpaced the rest of Europe since its completion of an international bailout in 2013. It will do so again if the government meets its forecast for expansion of 4.2 percent. "The government looks on target for its forecasts, the figures are stronger than expected. Consumer spending is holding up well, at this stage there is no sign of a major Brexit hit," said Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Merrion Stockbrokers. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin and Conor Humphries Editing by Larry King)
She turned 36 last week. And Carrie Bickmore celebrated with a weekend away with partner Chris Walker, at the Crown Resort in Melbourne over the weekend. The Project host gushed about her trip on Instagram, telling her followers she wanted to do it all over again. Scroll down for video 'Can we do the weekend again please?!! Birthday fun around Melbourne #sun #sangria #gettingold #ponyisland @crownresorts,' she captioned a series of celebratory snaps. On Friday, the mother-of-two shared a snap of various candles she received as a gift and wrote: 'Birthday pressies. My friends know me well! I may have a tiny candle obsession. 'My house currently smells like a cross between a lolly store and a florist.' The bubbly television presenter went on to add the hashtags 'apples', 'vanilla', 'fiddlewood', 'candles' and lastly, 'birthday love'. Fans rushed to Instagram to wish Carrie the best on her special day. Carrie took time off work and was absent on Friday's edition of The Project, which she normally hosts Monday-Friday alongside Waleed Aly and Peter Helliar. Carrie and Chris share a 21-month-old daughter Evie and a 10-year-old son Oliver from a previous marriage. It is unclear whether the kids accompanied the couple on their trip. The media personality is expected to return to The project next week.
This is a remarkable, must watch interview between Fox News' Tucker Carlson and California Congressman Adam Schiff.
More than anything else, the primary takeaway is the completely clownish and pathetic manner in which Mr. Schiff represents himself and his office. The only reply he has to Carlson, which he uses on at least three occasions, is to blurt out "party of Reagan" in a childish attempt at guilting Tucker into a mutual embrace of neo-Cold War jingoism.
Great job by Tucker Carlson getting Schiff to expose his true colors. This is exactly how journalists should treat all political figures whenever they mislead and deceive, which most of them do 24/7.
The suspected mastermind behind a global internet sex scam that caused the suicide of a British teenager is a rich former slum dweller from the Philippines known as the Queen of Sextortion, Mail Online has discovered. Single mother Maria Cecilia Caparas-Regalachuelo – who just 10 years ago lived in one of Manila's worst areas – is the alleged matriarch of a syndicate in the northern Philippines that has blackmailed thousands of foreigners after taking naked videos of them during online sex chats. Using a Fagin's band of urchins including girls as young as 12, Caparas is believed to have amassed a fortune by getting her gang members to threaten to post naked footage of victims on Facebook after persuading them to strip. Her rabble of unlikely cyber-criminals in flip-flops working from dirt-poor towns and villages in the Bulacan province north of Manila, in the Philippines, is blamed for the suicide of 17-year-old Daniel Perry from Dumfermline in Scotland. The trainee mechanic thought he was chatting online to a girl in the US and was told by his online tormentors he would be 'better off dead' as they demanded money shortly before he leapt to his death from the Forth Road Bridge in 2013. Caparas, 37, was arrested with dozens of other gang members in a 2014 Interpol swoop following Daniel's death. She is suspected to have used her wealth and connections to bribe her way out of prison and continue her sextortion racket before being arrested again this September. She is now in custody awaiting trial for child abuse and trafficking while one of her 22-year-old gang members, Archie Gian Tolin, has since gone into hiding in the Philippines, evading his extradition to Britain over Daniel's death. Her gang's activities are thought to have contributed to a surge in 'sextortion' cases in Britain with four more suicides in the past year and a doubling of reported cases from 385 in 2015 to 864 so far this year. The Slumdog Millionairess – described by one neighbour as uneducated but extremely cunning – is thought to be the pioneer of the sinister form of online blackmail dramatised in the TV series Black Mirror and now used by other gangs based in Morocco and the Ivory Coast. MailOnline tracked down the home of Caparas to a remote village called North Hills, north of Manila, where her home was guarded by a ragamuffin band of young men who hid their faces from our cameras. Ironically, Caparas presents herself as a deeply religious woman despite the appalling crimes she is accused of. She has a crucifix on her front door and when arrested in September wore a t-shirt with the slogan: 'In the happy moments, praise God. In the difficult moments, seek God.' Caparas was relocated to North Hills with her four children when the Manila slum where they lived was demolished 10 years ago. She is now the wealthiest and most powerful resident of the village of 1,000 people, according to neighbours. She owns a sprawling two-storey block dominating the village centre which has been converted in the past five years into a honey-trap for local youngsters with a basketball ring opposite its entrance and a gym and a billiards room on its upper floors. The billiards room is lined with 19 cyber-café style coin-operated computer cubicles and is thought to have been the unlikely headquarters of her criminal enterprise, recruiting English-speaking youngsters to seduce and blackmail foreign men online. As we entered the billiards hall, young men playing pool hurriedly covered their faces and scuttled awkwardly away, refusing to answer any questions about Caparas. They then locked the hall and hurried off into the village, leaving only a gaggle of grubby young children behind. All computer hard drives were seized when police from the Manila-based Cybercrime unit swooped in September, residents told us. They also arrested a nephew of Caparas, Mark Andrey Rafol Sesaldo, who is accused of helping her run the Cybercrime network. Incredibly, despite her two high-profile arrests, which have seen her nicknamed the 'Queen of Sextortion' by local newspapers, village leaders claim to know little about her activities and have taken no follow-up action to warn parents or youngsters about her alleged operations. 'Everyone knows what happened but no one will talk to you about it,' said the owner of a café near her home, who asked not to be named. 'She is in jail but this is the Philippines and she has money. We all believe she will be free and back home soon once the fuss has died down.' Asked if village parents were concerned about the activities at her house, the café owner said: 'This is a poor village and many people made money from Caparas – not just the young people but their parents as well.' When she was arrested, Caparas protested that she was just a businesswoman and pointed out that she had just opened a bottled water shop on the ground floor of her home in North Hills. 'I hope the police will treat me fairly,' she told a local TV crew. Luzviminda Espiritu, chairwoman of the neighbourhood or 'barangay' committee, told Mail Online Caparas had been penniless when she moved to North Hills with her children 10 years ago after being relocated from a Manila slum. 'She was given a simple home here when she arrived but she has since gone on to become a successful businesswoman,' she said. 'We don't know much about what she does and we were very shocked when she was arrested. 'We haven't had a single complaint brought to us by parents of children. We have many homes in this barangay. Our police officers patrol every day but they can't always see what goes on inside people's houses. The billiards hall where the computer terminals were found was set up by Caparas four years ago, Ms Espiritu said. However local police knew nothing of her activities, she said, and Caparas was arrested both times by the Manila-based national anti-cybercrime squad. After her 2014 arrest, police said they believed Caparas's syndicate had extorted an estimated £1.5million from thousands of victims in the US, Britain, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. There were nearly 500 victims in Hong Kong alone who paid the gang more than a combined £400,000. Individual amounts transferred by victims ranged from £200 to £15,000, police found. Youngsters working for Caparas allegedly worked in three days shifts making contacts with foreigners and then persuading them to strip and perform sex acts in front of their computers which were then recorded and used to blackmail them. Interpol revealed how children working for the gang, which operated at an 'almost industrial scale', would be offered training and incentives including 'holidays, cash or mobile phones for reaching their financial targets'. They could earn hundreds of pounds in a week shift, police said – a fortune in a rural area where the average daily wage is £5 a day and the main employer is a cement factory in the nearby town of San Jose Del Monte. One underage girl was allegedly paid more than £1,000 for three days of 'chatting' work online luring paedophiles for Caparas's syndicate to blackmail. As well as her home village, police believe Caparas ran another sextortion gang in San Jose Del Monte. One of her daughters allegedly owned two Western Union money-transfer offices in the district where victims were ordered to send their blackmail money. Caparas is accused of setting up her money-spinning internet sex scams by taking advantage of the Philippines' high standards of English in the poverty-racked district where groups of unsupervised children run wild. Other victims of sextortion gangs in the Philippines include 52-year-old Chicago politician Ron Sandack who stepped down abruptly after paying US$3,000 to blackmailers. He went to police when his blackmailers demanded a further US$5,000, state documents show. Senior Superintendent Ronaldo De Jesus, head of the Philippines National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group which arrested Caparas, told Mail Online many foreign victims who thought they were talking to women online were unwittingly exchanging messages with teenage men. Showing a surprising level of sophistication, syndicate members engage men in sex talk then show pre-recorded videos of women stripping and performing sex acts before persuading victims to do the same so they can record their acts. If they refuse to pay up, the blackmailers sometimes threaten to tell friends and family members the victim was performing sex acts with an underage boy or girl even if the victim believed he was communicating with someone older. 'It is a growing crime here in the Philippines and it is driven by poverty,' said Snr Supt De Jesus who has a team of 100 Manila-based officers working with Interpol to tackle the sextortion epidemic. But new sextortion gangs are springing up in provinces nationwide, he said. Snr Supt De Jesus said the most harrowing part of his team's work was seeing underage children sometimes as young as eight forced to take part in the cybersex industry by their parents. 'It is very hard to understand how any parent can do this to their child,' he said. Caparas has been charged with child abuse and trafficking – charges that relate to her use of underage children to blackmail foreign victims. Underage girls were allegedly used in some cases as bait and in others as a way to threaten victims when blackmail demands are not met. Snr Supt De Jesus insisted that Caparas would remain behind bars until her case is brought to trial, saying the offences she was charged with are so serious. 'She will not be given bail,' he said. An international arrest warrant was issued in February for Archie Gian Tolin, one of three gang members accused of targeting Daniel Perry. He was among 58 people including Caparas arrested in 2014.
He's currently on the Australian leg of their A Head Full Of Dreams world tour. But during an appearance on Friday night's episode of The Project , Coldplay frontman Chris Martin's focus was on his spectacular Super Bowl halftime performance with Bruno Mars and Beyoncé that took place in February. The award-winning artist recalled Bruno 'touching his butt cheeks' while also explaining that he danced goofily alongside exceptional dancer Beyonce to represent all of the people 'who can't dance.' 'The whole purpose of our Super Bowl thing ... was to try and subtly say that everyone matters and everyone is included,' he said. 'The way we did that was by asking Beyonce and Bruno Mars to come and be amazing and they were of course. I thought it was important to dance between [them] to represent all the people who really can't dance. He added: 'Bruno was touching my butt cheeks.' His comments came after radio and TV personality Meshel quizzed him on what it was like to dance in between Beyoncé and Bruno Mars during the show. And as Meshel described Chris' dancing as 'the human embodiment of joy,' she wasn't quite expecting what the English singer-songwriter had to say in response. 'Yes, thanks,' Chris said before adding: 'While Bruno was touching my butt cheeks.' Coldplay's whirlwind tour features hits from the band's seventh studio album of the same name, released December 4 of last year. Coldplay collaborated with a long list of celebrity musicians for the album including Beyoncé, Noel Gallagher, Tove Lo, Khatia Buniatishvili and Merry Clayton. The popular band will play their last show in Melbourne on Saturday, before heading to Sydney for two shows on Tuesday and Wednesday. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph just recently, Chris admitted that A Head Full Of Dreams could be their last album. 'I feel like everything we want to say about life and the world is available to buy. It's not that we've said it all, but we just want to enjoy saying it for now.' Despite the admission, the ex-husband of Gwyneth Paltrow revealed that he enjoys hitting the road. 'We love it, we're just so lucky. We were smart because we didn't tour the last album [2014 Ghost Stories] so we all got hungry again to travel,' Chris told the publication. At the time of the tour announcement in August, Chris told news.com.au that he has rekindled his love for touring. He said: 'I am so comfortable right now with the idea of music being like food. If you are lucky in this life, you can choose what to eat and choose what to listen to.' 'A Head Full Of Dreams was written as a record to be performed live. We can't wait to do that,' the singer added.
Nelspruit - A serial rapist who pleaded guilty to raping three young women and blamed liquor for his crimes, has been sentenced to 22 years in jail by the Nelspruit High Court.
Passing sentence on Wednesday, Judge JJ Strydom described Nkosinathi Matsane's crimes as the acts of a serial rapist.
"The accused and his companion had no regard to the rights and dignity of the women they raped. Rape is the most atrocious crime. It is the invasion of the most private part of a woman. It is degrading, humiliating, violent and also destroys their joy for the rest of their lives," he said.
He supported the State's argument that Matsane did not deserve leniency because alcohol played a role in the offences.
If he had not changed his plea to guilty, he would have faced a minimum sentence of life imprisonment for each count of rape.
Long negative impact
READ: Paarl man found guilty of raping, killing 10-year-old girl
Strydom said the court believed he was remorseful as he had asked for forgiveness both from the court and the victims. Matsane, 37, from Masoi in Mpumalanga, was arrested in 2015 on charges of kidnapping, armed robbery, and three counts of rape.
He committed the first rape in June 2009, the second in October 2013, and the third in January 2014.
"I am remorseful of what I have done and I ask the court and the victims for forgiveness," he said in a plea statement his lawyer Melanie Erasmus read to the court.
Matsane said during one of the rapes he and a companion, who was still at large, kidnapped a woman at a tavern in a village in Masoi at night.
"After we took her to the bush, my friend dragged her to a ditch where he raped her. When he finished I also took a turn and raped her," he said. Prosecutor Eric Sihlangu said the offences were serious and would impact negatively on the victims for a long time. He asked the court to impose a harsh sentence.
He said Matsane failed to take the court into his confidence and explain what provoked the eleventh-hour change of heart to plead guilty.
"Many offenders regret their conduct afterward, but that does not make their plea of guilt genuine," Sihlangu said.
British taxpayers are funding the comfortable middle class lives in China, India and in dozens of other fast-developing economies, an investigation revealed today. Funds have been spent building Chinese restaurant chains, five star hotels, online gambling websites, luxury shopping malls and Pakistan's version of Amazon. Ironically, the money came from the Government's poverty relief fund, which claims it 'makes a lasting difference to people's lives in some of the world's poorest places' by investing in local businesses that subsequently generate jobs. But the investigation by The Times exposes that the money is in fact funding the lives of people enjoying comfortable middle class lives in some of the world's fastest growing economies. The money is spent by the CDC Group, the Government's private equity division that spends aid money on behalf of the Department for International Development (DfiD). International Development Secretary Priti Patel quadrupled the amount of money flowing through CDC from £1.5billion to £6billion as part of an overhaul of Dfid aid contracts. But an MP criticised the move, saying it was an 'an ideological attempt to privatise our aid'. The investigation into its spending since 2012 found it had helped that several large shopping malls in Nigeria, along with accompanying gated communities. In Egypt the money had gone towards building a chain of electronic stores selling iPhones and flat-screen TVs. In Pakistan CDC-backed funds even went towards Daraz, the Pakistani version of Amazon, as well as an online fashion retailer in India called Jabong. Between them they have received £32million in direct funding from British taxpayer-funded CDC. The Chinese hotel chain called 7 Days has also received funding and restaurant chains in India, Vietnam and Peru have also benefited. The money also funded major construction projects that included £15million towards a gated community in Nairobi, Kenya, with luxury apartments in Westpoint Heights. A brochure promoting the apartments contains the slogan: 'Only the best will do'. The revelations are even more shocking considering that the CDC, formerly the Commonwealth Development Corporation, changed its funding strategy in 2012 to only invest in South Asia and Africa and to fund riskier projects that would have otherwise failed to attract funding. A government spokesman defended spending on projects such as Daraz and Jabong because of the jobs they created and sustained. Yesterday it was revealed how aid spending on consultants has doubled to £1billion in just four years including huge bills to hire broadcasters from the BBC and Channel 4. The vast spending also included £1million for Nigeria, which was shared with US bank JP Morgan and a law firm to advise the African nation on how to spend its vast oil wealth. Aid to Nigeria has been particularly controversial as the oil-rich country has its own space programme. In 2014 DfiD paid £26,000 to hire Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Muthy and £14,000 to hire BBC broadcaster Zainab Badawi to host sessions at a two-day aid conference in Mexico. Last night Mr Guru-Muthy promised to give his fee to an international development charity - minus the tax he paid - claiming had no idea it was funded by the Government but Ms Badawi declined to comment, The Times said. Analysis of 70,000 financial transactions revealed consultancy spending has increased sharply since 2012. Almost half the spending goes to just ten British companies. The newspaper also reported extraordinary lavish spending on individual contracts. In another case two consultants were separately paid £12,000 to produce a single six page 'how to' note on disaster resilience. Another two were paid £15,100 to write a 30-page discussion paper. Last night Mr Guru-Murthy said he would give his fee to an international development charity, and claimed he was not aware at the time that Dfid was funding the project. Miss Patel is thought to have said privately she will not 'tolerate the profiteering by those who have created an industry out of the suffering of the world's poorest.' The revelations will increase controversy over Britain's ballooning international aid budget, which now tops a staggering £12billion. It is due to increase every year as long as the economy grows, after David Cameron passed a law forcing the government to spend 0.7 per cent of GDP on foreign aid every year. Backbench Tory MPs critical of the law say it prioritises how much is spent over choosing good projects or avoiding waste and corruption. Earlier this year it emerged the UK could be sued after building a useless £285 million runway on the remote island of St Helena. Strong cross winds make it impossible for planes to land - but local investors have already spent a fortune preparing for new tourists and want to claim their money back. On taking the job, Miss Patel - who had previously called for the department to be scrapped, admitted aid money was being wasted and stolen. And she promised to pour hundreds of millions into immigration hotspots to try and deter mass migration to the UK and Europe. A DfID spokesman said: 'DfID is one of the most transparent development agencies in the world and we expect the sector to adhere to the highest standards to achieve the best results for the world's poorest and value for money for the British taxpayer. UK Aid has a life-changing impact on the ground, but DfID can and will do more. 'The department is examining how we can increase scrutiny of contractor spending because if we want to defeat poverty for good, we need to improve value and impact across the aid system.'
Celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson has long admired D. C.'s food scene — from the longstanding cuisine of its Ethiopian community to a new generation of chefs that has turned it into one of the nation's premier food cities.
So opening Marcus at the $1.4 billion MGM National Harbor casino resort, which debuted last night, was a "no brainer" for the Top Chef Masters winner and Red Rooster Harlem owner.
"The restaurant scene in D. C. has gone through the roof, which is super exciting," says Samuelsson, who has cooked at the White House. Marcus will serve comfort food all day in a 208-seat dining room and offer in-room dining for the 308-room hotel.
Marcus is one of three restaurants helmed by famous chefs at the Vegas-style resort, whose owners are betting that destination dining will reel in repeat visitors to the new Oxon Hill, Md. attraction, just outside of the District. D. C. restaurateur José Andrés , whose Minibar in D. C. received two Michelin stars this year, is opening FISH. Lobster jambalaya, Maryland crab cakes and Chesapeake oysters are among the signature seafood items. The deck, which overlooks the Potomac River, will turn into a crab shack during the warmer months, Andres says.
And brothers Bryan and Michael Voltaggio are debuting their first collaborative concept, Voltaggio Brothers Steak House. With a living room and library, the restaurant has been designed to evoke their childhood home in Frederick, Md.
"It'll literally look like you're walking into someone's house," says Alison Bybee, MGM National Harbor's vice president of food and beverage.
The resort includes two other full-service restaurants: TAP Sports Bar and pan-Asian restaurant Ginger. Pastry shop Bellagio Patisserie features a 12-foot-high chocolate fountain — a replica of the much-photographed one in Bellagio Las Vegas.
MGM National Harbor is the first MGM casino resort that doesn't feature a buffet.
"We're finding a lot more sophisticated diners who are looking for great, chef quality food," Bybee says.
Guests saving their dough for the poker and blackjack tables can head to the National Market, whose 10 food and beverage stalls include cult favorite burger chain Shake Shack and Pappas Crabcakes. The latter is a favorite among locals, Oprah Winfrey, and MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren and his wife Heather.
"We're bringing in what the Murren family considers one of the best crab cakes you can find," Jim says. "We're finding local food gems that are unique to the region."
The resort also features two nightlife spots: Felt Bar & Lounge and Blossom Cocktail Lounge. Samuelsson's restaurant will contain a cocktail bar in the back, Sammy's, whose name is an ode to the Rat Pack legend, Sammy Davis Jr. Gospel brunches, DJs and jazz music will be part of the entertainment.
His restaurant will feature dishes, like blackened catfish, which pay homage to the south. Others, like the fried whole chicken, will be familiar to guests of his New York restaurants. An open kitchen with an exposed grill adds to the vibrancy.
"My whole goal is to match the energy of the casino floor," Samuelsson says.
Check out the gallery above for a closer look at the MGM National Harbor's new flavors.
Masked raiders broke into the home of a former Neighbours actress before stealing three beauty pageant tiaras and her children's Christmas presents. The burglars broke into Australian model Robyn Morrison-Charlesworth's home in Bradford, West Yorkshire, while she and her rugby manager husband were out. The 40-year-old actress, who played policewoman Terri Hall in the soap, returned to the property on Wednesday evening to find it had been ransacked. The mother-of-two fled to next door with her ten-year-old son Beau, terrified the gang was still in her detached home. Neighbours armed themselves with baseball bats as her husband, Dewsbury Rams head coach Glenn Morrison, 40, sped home after she phoned him. The four-strong gang had left but the ten-minute burglary has been captured on CCTV, which has been handed to West Yorkshire Police. Laptops, iPads, jewellery and Christmas presents were stolen plus the three tiaras which the actress and her daughter Halle-Blu, 12, won in global beauty pageants. Mrs Morrison-Charlesworth and talented gymnast Halle-Blu are desperate for the gem-encrusted gold and silver crowns to be found. The actress's tiara was for being runner-up in the Mrs Galaxy World contest and Hall-Blu's two crowns were for Junior World Galaxy and UK Galaxy Queen. Mrs Morrison-Charlesworth, who was a real-life police officer in Sydney before finding fame in Neighbours, is still assessing the damage to the home. The actress, who has a pet British Bulldog called Barney, said: 'The tiaras are unique, and the gang will not be able to flog them.' Mrs Morrison-Charlesworth had returned home about 6.45pm on Wednesday with Beau after dropping off Halle-Blu at gymnastics and She found he back patio door had been smashed and the house trashed, saying: 'They had really trashed the place, ripping off doors and overturning beds.' The actress feared the raiders were still in the house so ran to her next door neighbour who armed himself with a baseball bat to check it was safe. When Mr Morrison checked CCTV it showed the gang – who all wore dark coloured balaclavas, boiler suits and gloves - had parked up in a nearby layby. A getaway driver remained in the car as the other three calmly jumped over a fence and smashed through the glass window. Mrs Morrison-Charlesworth said: 'It looks a professional targeted operation. They don't care about families they were just after anything they can steal to sell. 'But the tiaras are no good to them. The kids are scared to go upstairs now and we are having to increase our security.' Mr Morrison, a former player with Bradford Bulls, said the gang barricaded Barney in a room as they swept through the house. 'They have smashed their way around the house, taking anything and maybe looking for a safe,' he added.
A furious mother claims her autistic son was left heartbroken when his school banned him from performing in their Christmas dance - because he doesn't know all the steps. Nicol Hankin claims her son Tyler-Jaye Hankin, 14, was told that he could not be part of his dance and cheerleading group's public performance at a Christmas market. Mother-of-one Nicol said Tyler-Jaye has been rehearsing after lessons and in his lunch breaks since October and the school's decision has left him feeling 'worthless'. A spokesman for Samuel Laycock School said some members of the group 'would not be ready to perform' due to joining the club after rehearsals first began. Housewife Nicol, 34, from Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, said: 'The school just won't budge. 'I asked why he isn't allowed to perform and they told me it was because he missed some of the dance classes, so he wouldn't know all of the moves. 'It's like the school just pick and choose who they want to perform, and it's not fair. 'No one is expecting "Diversity". If he doesn't know everything, they could just stick him at the back, or just get him to perform the ones he does know. 'It's Christmas. Kids should be allowed to have fun. If they have put the time and the effort in they should be allowed to take part. 'This has really knocked him for six. Even though he's fourteen, his autism means he doesn't necessarily have the same mental age. 'When he came through the door after they told him on Wednesday straight away he started crying and rubbing his eyes. 'He told me he thought he was worthless and rubbish at everything. He's totally downhearted, and he no longer wants to go dancing.' Samuel Laycock School's dance and cheerleading squad are due to perform a ten minute slot at Ashton-under-Lyne Christmas markets this Saturday. Tyler-Jaye first laced up his dancing shoes with the group last year and has previously participated in festivals and the Ashton-under-Lyne Christmas markets. Nicol claims he has only missed four dance rehearsals this term which were during a holiday to Lancaster in September which was authorised by the school. But she claims on Wednesday he was told by his teachers that he couldn't take part because he would not know all of the moves. Nicol said: 'Tyler-Jaye is a very happy-go-lucky little boy, but he struggles with low self-esteem as it is - and the dance was actually helping him with that. 'He absolutely loves dancing and is quite good at it once he's learned the steps but this has set him right back. 'I'm not going to budge. I would like the school to take it on board and change their minds. Things like this shouldn't happen in this day and age. 'I actually wasn't going to send him into school after this. But I can't really do that, it's his education and I don't want him to miss out on more - it's not fair. 'It's going to be hard for him because all his friends are going to be talking about it next week. One of his best friends is going to be performing.' A spokesman for Samuel Laycock School said: 'The dance and cheerleading group have been rehearsing since September for this particular performance. 'But there are some pupils who have only joined the group in November and won't be ready to perform this weekend. 'However they have still been welcomed into the group and there will be more opportunities for them to perform over the academic year. 'We are a fully inclusive school and pride ourselves in giving all pupils - regardless of ability - opportunities to take part in lots of different clubs, including the dance and cheerleading group. 'However this has to be on a first come first served basis as we have limited places because of pupil and staff ratio requirements.'
Another disturbing amateur porn video has been filmed at a train station in Victoria. The 12-minute lesbian porn video shows two women taking off their clothes and performing sex acts on the platform at Little River station, south west of Melbourne , in broad daylight. The two apparently Australian women at one point have to frantically put their underwear back on as a train approaches - before walking up to the driver and making him toot his horn. In the explicit footage, the two women discuss how bad it would be if they got caught having sex at the station. The pair then perform a number of sex acts on the platform as a man films, until a train approaches. As the V/Line train stops at the station to let passengers disembark, the two young women walk up to the train driver's cab, tell him he is 'sexy' and persuade him to toot his horn. After the train pulls away, the girls strip off and continue their disturbing performance. The graphic video comes just days after another amateur porn video filmed at a Victoria train station surfaced online. The eight-minute film, called Trainline Tramp, was recorded at North Shore Railway Station, in Norlane, back in April but has just come to the attention of train bosses. It features Melbourne graffiti artist Staytrue, known for creating murals while dressed in little more than a short skirt or lingerie. V/Line spokesman Rob Curtain confirmed that authorities were aware of the video, but would not offer further comment. He said bosses were 'appalled and disgusted' by the behaviour depicted. Police and railway bosses say they are working together to try and identify those involved in making the film so they can be prosecuted. The footage depicts Staytrue walking on to the platform in a short skirt, in similar fashion to other films of her work. She then attempts to tag a railway shelter before being 'caught' by a man wearing a mask over his face. The pair then perform several sex acts on a bench toward the end of the platform, including full intercourse. A spokesman for the City of Geelong said Victoria Police were investigating both clips.
In 1996, a 22-year-old from High Point, North Carolina enjoyed a sensational year that would be considered fodder for an inspirational fictional movie about a rising young American soccer star.
Within a span of 251 head-spinning days, this defender went from being an untested rookie in a league's inaugural season to a starter in the Olympics to scoring the game-winning goal in extra time to making his national team debut – and acquitting himself well in the process.
And Eddie Pope still found time to attend college with all this going on.
The future National Soccer Hall of Famer certainly lived that meteoritic rise to the top of American soccer. No US player prior or since road since has enjoyed such a rapid ascension.
Pope, who played with three Major League Soccer clubs and made 82 appearances with the US national team, had no grand illusions on what he wanted to accomplished two decades ago.
"It was a year that just one thing after another," he said in a recent interview. "Things kept coming so quickly. Fortunately, I didn't have time to worry about whether I was going to perform up to a certain level or any of those things."
Pope was an All-American at the University of North Carolina, having also kicked field goals and extra points for his high school and college football teams. So, it had been established he could do two things at once, a skill he would need to demonstrate several times that year.
"I was almost thrown into the fire," he said. "That was a probably a blessing in disguise. It was just so fast and furious. After that year, I sort of looked back on it. You think a lot could have gone wrong. I just didn't have time to sit and worry and overthink things. It was just more of the next thing comes and you do it. Because it was a whirlwind, because it was sink or swim, that was likely an advantage."
He was tabbed as the second overall pick of the very first MLS college draft by DC United that March. He admitted he did not grow up with aspirations of becoming a pro player, only visions of becoming an Olympian.
"While I was in school there was no league," he said. "There were rumors starting to be out there that there was going to be a professional league in the US. My goal was to be an Olympian. I didn't really focus on anything else. Ever since a young age, I wanted to be an Olympian. All of a sudden there was a league. It worked out well for me."
The 6ft 1in, 180lb defender could not have asked for better environment to transition from college to pro. Bruce Arena, who decided to take the plunge into pro soccer after directing the University of Virginia to five NCAA division championships, was the Olympic and DC coach. And it certainly didn't hurt that his assistants were Bob Bradley and Glenn "Mooch" Myernick.
"It definitely was a trial by fire," said Pope, adding that Arena "had the opportunity of watching me day-in and day-out. All the kids that were there at the time had the advantage of the coach being an MLS coach. I was just trying to make that Olympic team. That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Every single day you're competing trying not to get cut."
The axe never fell for Pope, whose every step seemed to be a learning experience on a club team with established players and internationals. Training sessions were challenging.
"It was just a team that I was on that ended up being a blessing," Pope said. "I ended on a team that had a lot of seasoned professionals, whether it was Marco [Etcheverry] or [John] Harkes or [Jeff] Agoos or Raul Diaz Arce, or players on their national teams. So the learning curve was really steep, especially the training. You're thrown in there and you were expected to just to try to keep up. I remember just the practices were being quite difficult. Forget the games. The training sessions were so fast and everyone was so good and technical and smart."Pope was forced to raise his game several levels just to keep up with his teammates."
Everything is faster, your decision making has to be faster," he said. "You pull the play off. If you don't pull it off, it was more than likely you would get punished for it. In college you would get away with it. It was a bit slower and you use your athleticism more than you could use your brain. Once you become a professional all that goes out the window. You have to think really fast and have the technical ability to pull off a play and not make a mistake."
Complicating matters, Pope wasn't only juggling two teams. He also attended UNC on a weekly basis, trying to secure his political science degree. United allowed him to fly back and forth between the nation's capital and Chapel Hill.
"I would play the game, and then I would get up the next morning and I would have a little shuttle flight to Chapel Hill, tend to classes, stay for a handful of days and they I would fly back," he said. "DC United was great. I couldn't have been in a better environment. It was never an issue."
So, Pope was spinning three plates at once, trying to excel at all three.
"It definitely was not easy, that's for sure," he said. "I always felt like school kept my grades sharp for soccer. It might sound silly, but I embraced it. I also realized too I was extremely blessed to have that opportunity. It was something that I didn't want to squander."
Pope realized his Olympic dream at the Atlanta Games.
He started all three games for the USA, which was eliminated after three games and five days in the most difficult men's group. The Americans opened with a 3-1 loss to eventual silver-medalist Argentina, a team that boasted the likes of Hernan Crespo, Ariel Ortega and Diego Simeone. They rebounded with a 2-0 victory over Tunisia two days later but fell short two days after that in a 1-1 draw with eventual fourth-place finishers Portugal. The USA needed a win to advance.
"It clearly didn't go the way we wanted it to," Pope said. "We needed a little bit of help from Argentina and they lost an odd game which sort of did us in as well. It was fulfilling to represent my country. It was something that I wanted to do since a young age. Just having the ability to play in an Olympics was unbelievably satisfying – and playing at an international level. If you go back and look at that Argentinean team and look at the players on the field it was gratifying in that way. It was my first taste in playing against some of the best players in the world.
"Every time you get into those games you try to think, 'How do I grow from this game? I have now seen something I haven't seen before and how do I grow from that?' And that's what I always tried to take from that."
Then it was back to the reality of United. After stumbling to a 2-8 start, DC went 19-9 the rest of the way. The team was virtually unbeatable in the playoffs, eliminating the NY/NY MetroStars in three games in the Eastern Conference semi-finals and sweeping the regular-season conference champions Tampa Bay Munity in the Eastern final to set up an MLS Cup confrontation with the LA Galaxy at Foxborough Stadium on 20 October 1996.
You probably know about the unsavory conditions the legendary first MLS Cup was played in.
Some 34,643 hearty souls stood for nearly three hours in the rain and wind to watch history in the making between. There were 7,725 no-shows.
"With all this rain and puddles all over the place, it easily could have become something that was unwatchable," Pope said. "Both teams stuck to the way that they played during the season. Obviously the ball won't move as well. Everyone certainly was trying to play the game instead of playing the conditions. It made the game extremely exciting, easy to watch. There were some really good goals that were scored and the qualify was high. In spite of the conditions, it was a well-played match."
United played its part, overcoming a 2-0 deficit with 17 minutes remaining. Barely five minutes in, Ecuadorian international striker Eduardo Hurtado taught Pope a hard lesson, taking advantage of a defensive lapse by the rookie, heading home a right-wing cross from El Salvadoran midfielder Mauricio Cienfuegos past goalkeeper Mark Simpson.
"He's a national team player, a great player," Pope said at the time. "He taught me a lesson. It was my fault. I lost sight of him. I was trying to redeem myself the rest of the game."
It was a while before Pope could accomplish that. Galaxy midfielder Chris Armas, who played 66 times for the USA, scored off a 16-yard shot for a seemingly safe two-goal advantage in the 56th minute. Closely marked by Armas, Etcheverry took advantage of some breathing room on two free kicks. First, he sent a left-wing cross to second-half sub Tony Sanneh, who beat defender Robin Fraser with a header goal in the 73rd minute.
"Once you get the first one, then there's just blood in the water and the other team tightens up and you're pushing and pushing and pushing," Pope said. "Everyone gets that shot of adrenaline. Now you're saying, 'We don't have the opportunity to tie it up, we have the opportunity to win it.' Things were rolling our way. We still had a lot of resolve."
On another Etcheverry free kick, second-half sub Shawn Medved fired a shot that Mexican international keeper Jorge Campos punched back to the midfielder. Medved right-footed the equalizer home from six yards in the 81st minute, forcing extratime.
Some 3:25 into the extra period, Pope's time came. Etcheverry sent a corner kick into the penalty area. The rookie eluded defender Curt Onalfo, jumped and headed the ball in from six yards to end the first MLS championship in dramatic fashion.
"When we got the corner kick, that was going to be a good opportunity to score," he said. "In the last training session that we had the week before we left Bob Bradley made Marco and me practice corner kicks. We were about to stop to finish training. So we did some extra ones.
"That was sort of in my mind. True to form, Marco just hung it up for me. We practiced it a gazillion times. And that's all I had to do, go up and get it. I was able to put a lot of power on it without worrying about missing because it was floated so perfectly."
Pope and his teammates celebrated with a long, belly slide on the slick, wet field. No problem, they were drenched already.
"It was a culmination of a really difficult, yet fun season," he said. "To be able to finish it off that way was a surreal feeling. It wasn't like we won 3-0. The game ended in an extremely exciting way – heartbreaking obviously for the other team."
Pope had little time to bask in the glory. Two days later he returned to UNC to take three exams."At that time, it was better going back to school a winner rather than having lost," he said. "It wasn't that big of a deal. I got to see my old coach and teammates. It was a really an enjoyable time."
He thought he could kick back for a while until US Soccer summoned Pope to join the national team to take some more kicks for World Cup qualifying for France 98.
"I was done with the season, relaxing," he said. "This is a new experience and opportunity on the horizon. It was exciting."
Not only did he make the team, Pope started USA's match against Trinidad & Tobago in Richmond, Virginia. on 10 November. He acquitted himself well, shutting down the speedy Jerren Nixon, who was playing in Switzerland with FC Zurich.
"I didn't know what to expect," Pope said. "I was happy to be there and played. They would throw you right to the fire to see how you would do. I didn't have time to think about it to be nervous or anything. I was getting used to that."
Pope, currently a player agent for Octagon, started in the USA's final five qualifiers of the Concacaf semi-final round for the 1998 World Cup.
For most mortals on this planet, 1996 just might have been the best year ever. For Pope, not necessarily.
He had a few major milestones still ahead. He participated in three World Cups, was named MLS defender of the year in 1997 and was chosen to the MLS Best XI in 1997, 1998, 2003 and 2004.
"After the first year with the national team, this really sets in. If I can stay on the team, I can be playing in a World Cup," Pope said with a laugh.
"So, there's a moment when reality does set it and you take a minute to step to think about it. I can possibly end up playing in a World Cup. People would say the 1998 was an absolute disaster. It wasn't for me. I got to play in a World Cup. I couldn't believe it. This is something that I could never have thought of or imagined. It wasn't there were people just like me who were doing it. It wasn't on TV as much. We learned to really appreciate it. I was fortunate to be in a World Cup. So as the other ones came along it seemed to get better and better. So, it was hard to kind of say that was the best year."
Regardless, 1996 was one remarkable year for one Eddie Pope, the most memorable year ever for an MLS rookie.
It's tempting to say Clint Irwin, since Toronto shipped five goals in the Conference final even though they scored seven. But if we're picking one of the trio of designated players to make a difference, let's assume Giovinco and Bradley do exactly what they're supposed to do, and Jozy Altidore does that and more, as his been his pattern in these playoffs. If he keeps up his record of scoring in every playoff round, he'll be their most important player. GP
If you're not thinking Giovinco, you're delusional. Had it not been for a strain injury that kept him out of action for three weeks halfway through the season, the Atomic Ant would have contested David Villa for MVP. Everything goes through the Italian and Seattle knows that their best chance of winning is to shut him out. LME
It would be ludicrous, pointlessly contrarian and pretentious to include any other name here: Justin Morrow. I kid. Though by his own standards he didn't exactly run rampant in the two conference final legs against the Montreal Impact, Sebastian Giovinco was still integral to Toronto FC's game plan. He put up the perfect cross for Jozy Altidore to head TFC back in the game at 3-0 down in a deafening Olympic Stadium, took the corner kick that pulled Toronto level in the second leg, and then gave them the go ahead goal with another corner late in the first half to Altidore in that wild game in the rain. Seba's patience on the ball and his immaculate technique and timing will be crucial to TFC getting a foothold early. RW
Giovinco. How could it possibly be anyone else? There are more structurally important players in the TFC lineup, but the Italian is the league's best player, maybe even the best player in the league's history. Giovinco can win a game all on his own and he will surely have a say on Saturday. GR
Hard to look beyond Nicolas Lodeiro. Yes, the pace and finishing of Jordan Morris could be decisive, and Ozzie Alonso's renaissance in the heart of midfield could be equally pivotal, but the common denominator in both their performances is that Lodeiro makes every player around him function at peak efficiency. Never mind playmaker, he's been a team maker in the second half of the season. GP
If Giovinco is Toronto's most important player, for this game Seattle's has to be Osvaldo Alonso , Giovinco's kryptonite. The 31-year-old Cuban midfielder will have the arduous task of disrupting Gio's creativity and if he succeeds then the Sounders have a great chance of winning. LME
Again, maybe it's because they're both MLS Cup finalists, but there is little debate on this question for either side. Yes, Jordan Morris is a revelation up front, but Nicolas Lodeiro is the lodestone for Seattle at the moment, yet another Uruguayan player who has taken to MLS like a duck to water. Lodeiro is more of a midfield playmaker than Giovinco, consistently generating decent chances with some visionary passing. He has eight assists since arriving in late July, and it was Lodeiro's drawn penalty and conversion which proved the winner over two legs against Colorado. RW
Osvaldo Alonso. Jordan Morris' goals have carried the Sounders all the way to the MLS Cup final, but without Alonso anchoring Brian Schmetzer's side in the centre of the pitch everything would fall apart. Up against Michael Bradley and Giovinco dropping deep, the midfield battle is one Alonso must win at BMO Field. GR
Toronto can't expect to be gifted the set piece goals Montreal gave them in the last round, and the Sounders won't fold like NYCFC did in the Conference semi-finals. The game might be tight, even dull for long stretches as Seattle work to stay organized and close Toronto's creative attackers down, so the hosts' best hope is going to be in pushing their wide players up from the back and forcing Seattle's defense to make decisions on who and when to track. GP
Pep Guardiola always says that aside from possession, a team's biggest priority is defending a counter-attack, and that's exactly what Toronto need to focus on. The Canadians will probably have more of the ball so they need to be wary of Seattle's fast break. LME
Defend. Though thrilling for neutrals and fun – if only in retrospect – for their fans, Toronto rode their luck in conceding five goals against Montreal over two legs. Part of the problem was the failure of Toronto's fullbacks Beitashour and Morrow to track back enough to cover on the counter, a failure that was particularly exposed in the first leg and played to Dominic Oduro's strengths. Though Toronto fought their way back into the tie in the second leg, they did so in part on the back of three good corners. That fortunate strategy may not be enough against disciplined Seattle team. They'll need a match that more closely resembles their dominant display against New York City FC in the conference semis to win. RW
Find the connection between fans and players again. It was almost as if the crowd sucked the ball into the net at times during the whirlwind conference final second leg over Montreal, such was the atmosphere at BMO Field. With that kind of backing TFC will have an even greater advantage. Fans don't win games, but they most certainly can be a factor. GR
Seattle will feel they have a set-piece advantage and Lodeiro can certainly serve up dangerous balls into the box for any foul within 35 yards of goal. And of course, on the occasions when Toronto commit wide men forward, any combination of three at the back will be vulnerable to a ball slipped past them for Morris to run onto. Really though, Seattle need to be efficient with limited chances , and frustrate Toronto to take the crowd out of the game. In previous years they've possessed an attack that looks set to sweep all before it only to fail in the playoffs. This year, a modest team that functions well needs to know its strengths and perform to them. GP
Given the nature of their opponent and the fact that they are playing at BMO Field, Seattle know that they might not see much of the ball, especially in the first 15 minutes. They cannot afford to concede early as this might completely ruin their overall strategy. The longer they keep it 0-0 , the better for Schmetzer and his squad. LME
Attack relentlessly and with discipline. Seattle are defensively good but not great, and they're up against a Toronto FC side that scored 17 goals in their last 5 playoff matches. The idea they can shell their way to a 'smart' victory in a rabid BMO Field is naive. Moreover, TFC gave a masterclass on their defensive frailties against the Impact over two legs. If the Sounders can get at Michael Bradley for some advantageous turnovers – looking at Ozzie Alonso here – they might be able to slow service to Altidore and Seba and help Morris find space behind Morrow and Nick Hagglund to get in on goal more than once. RW
Repeat their conference final second leg performance. Against the Colorado Rapids the Seattle Sounders were more conservative than they usually are, soaking up pressure, plugging the gaps and hitting out on the counter. That game plan goes against the grain of their strengths as a side, but given TFC's attacking potency they must aim to repeat the performance they pulled off in Commerce City two weeks ago. GR
The team that scores first. So Seattle in a tight game, or Toronto at a canter. I'll choose Toronto as the home team, and because they have more difference makers on the field. GP
Toronto. They will concede, no doubt, but there's just too much firepower, too much talent, too much momentum for them not to take this one. Toronto win 3-2 in ET. LME
With home advantage and a rampant attack, Toronto FC should win by yet another gangbusters scoreline, perhaps 4-2. But then again, the ghosts of Toronto's past haven't been expunged quite yet. Despite what should be a hefty home advantage, there's always the possibility Toronto's attack will go silent at the worst possible time, or for there to be an unfortunate early injury. Football can be cruel, and it's been very cruel lately to Toronto in particular. RW
Toronto FC. The Seattle Sounders have momentum on their side, but with Giovinco an irrepressible hub of attacking energy and Jozy Altidore in the MLS form of his career, scoring five goals in five playoff outings, Toronto FC will simply have too many goals in them to be stopped. Their victory on Saturday will be a defining image in the history of the club and the league as a whole. GR
Yes. Two big, under-performing teams in solid markets and with fanbases that are distinct and visible presences in their respective cities. There gets to be a new winner in a fashion that doesn't feel wholly random, but as part of a process of one of these two teams building for this for their entire history. With apologies to Columbus and Portland last year, it's a much more intriguing game for the neutral and after both New York teams and LA Galaxy went out in the semis, this was probably the best case scenario left for MLS marketing bods. GP
I think this is the perfect matchup for MLS. On one side you have a Canadian team with a great fanbase and three DPs who are delivering, and on the other you have a squad where one of your best players is an American who made his trade in college soccer. Both teams have never been here before. It's a win, any way you look at it. LME
This is a pretty good advert for MLS 2.0 or 3.0 or whatever iteration we're at now. Seattle and Toronto were the first expansion markets to fill stadiums and generate excitement around the idea of North Americans regularly turning up en masse for domestic soccer games. It certainly will quiet some of the resentment some Canadian soccer fans feel against MLS, particularly related to the fight over Canadian players' 'internationals' status and the feeling that the league doesn't have Canadian soccer's best interests at heart (which is probably true). Plus, there's the fact that while Seattle arrived later to MLS than TFC, they have enjoyed far more success in the league. Now Toronto can pip them to a first MLS Cup on home soil. RW
Yes. For me, it's the most exciting MLS Cup final match-up in years. As something of an outsider I take interest in gauging the growth and development of the league and these two clubs can achieve some sort of fulfilment on Saturday. Played in a newly renovated and expanded stadium (arguably the best in MLS) in front of a sold out crowd, this more than satisfies the 'advert for the league' cliche. GR
Ozzie Alonso. He's had years of watching feted strike forces misfire a few yards in front of him, in the Sounders serial playoff disappointments. And having been offered around other clubs in the off-season he's seized his unexpected reprieve by playing some driven soccer in recent weeks. He deserves this. GP
Osvaldo Alonso. Nevermind that he was snubbed as part of MLS best XI (he clearly had the best season of his career) The Cuban Kante has been in the league for eight years and despite all his achievements (four-time US Open Cup champion, three-time MLS All-Star) he is still waiting for his first MLS CUP victory, and this might be his last chance. LME
Though there is a case for Michael Bradley considering the shit-kicking he has sometimes received from aggrieved US men's national team supporters under Jurgen Klinsmann's reign of error, the player who deserves the title is one who won't play on Saturday: Clint Dempsey. Twice a runner-up with the New England Revolution, and now out of the side indefinitely with an irregular heartbeat at 33 years of age, Seattle should do it for the rappin' Texan and future US Soccer Hall of Famer. RW
Zach Scott. It's unlikely the 36-year-old will start, but he more than anyone else on either side's roster deserves to lift the MLS Cup. There before the MLS days, the defender is the definition of a club stalwart, turning out over 270 times for the Sounders over two stints spanning 14 years. Mr Sounder, as Sigi Schmid once dubbed him, has more than served his time. GR
I already tweeted this in the semi-final between Toronto and Montreal, but if this game heads into the same surreal territory as that one, then I predict Justin Trudeau will appear from the sky to score the winning goal , before celebrating by offering Canadian asylum for all. GP
Inebriatti, Toronto's controversial supporters group, will light up so many flares on the pitch that it will look like a scene from Phantom Of The Opera. LME
Win or lose, at some point in the evening Danny Dichio will cry. RW
This will be the highest scoring MLS Cup final in history. The 2003 final between San Jose and Chicago (4-2) currently holds the record, but given the way these two teams have been going of late (particularly Toronto FC) that record could fall on Saturday. What odds can I get on a Giovinco double hat-trick? How about double figures? GR
The battle is on between evolved simians and their human foes in the sci-fi film War for the Planet of the Apes , with a confrontation looming between each force's charismatic leader.
On one side is Caesar, the revolutionary alpha ape with enhanced intelligence again played through motion-capture performance by Andy Serkis. His opponent: the vicious Colonel (Woody Harrelson), a man determined to hunt down Caesar and deliver a fatal blow to enemy morale.
"Caesar, who has had a love for human beings, is now tested beyond measure," Serkis says about War (in theaters July 14), the third film in the rebooted Planet of the Apes franchise based on the movie series from the 1960s and '70s. "The losses of the apes on his side drive him to a really dark place."
The new movie picks up two years after the end of 2014's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes , in which Caesar had just killed his traitorous human-hating lieutenant Koba (Toby Kebbell). The apes have retreated into the Muir Woods near San Francisco and are trying to hold off an army.
There have been massive human casualties as well, but Caesar's people have suffered incredibly at the hands of this merciless Colonel and his military, says producer Dylan Clark. So Caesar goes on "this quest of revenge to right things — the victor gets the planet."
Caesar is also carrying huge guilt from Koba's death and begins to understand the human oppression and brutality he faced. "He doesn't know anymore where his loyalties lie," Serkis says. "He's in a very deeply conflicted period of his life."
Brandishing a shaved head and wild eyes, Harrelson's Colonel emerges as the main War villain, though he's a product of an extreme world that yearns to go back to its pre-ape days.
The Colonel is willing to go to great lengths "to create a world where things can be gentle again," says returning Dawn director Matt Reeves. "But the journey he takes you on is chilling."
He and Caesar ultimately face off, yet "there's also bizarrely a kind of respect and understanding from both sides," Serkis adds. "It's understanding the condition of the other person, what they're having to suffer through and what they're trying to protect."
As Caesar, there were emotional levels "I had to get to that connotes insanity," Serkis says. He also faced new challenges performing in his Lycra mo-cap suit in the snow: "We had wetsuits on underneath, but the night shoots were brutal. You would literally have to run up and down a hill to keep your body functioning."
But the suffering is a testament to how much Serkis loves the Apes films. "They're about something important: the metaphor, the allegory, the story, the characters. It is a very rare and extraordinary situation you don't get that often."
We were looking for a universal idea, something that felt like a common experience that we could sort of bring our own bent to. We were in a meeting with our manager around the holidays, batting around ideas, and he was talking about the idea of an office Christmas party because we'd all just been to them. We all jumped in and suddenly it was sort of like 1 plus 1 equals 3.
That night is so rife with danger and high stakes and tension, the opportunity to do an ensemble comedy around it was exciting to us. It's such a charged night for so many people. It's the one night of the year where the caste system sort of breaks down and people live honestly with each other, for good and for bad, which is why it has this destructive potential. You're always one drink away from ruining your professional life.
When we were younger, office Christmas parties were more celebrated. It used to be OK to let your hair down and maybe even humiliate yourself and then still show up to work the next day. But in the litigious world we live in, with HR and social media, you're not allowed to let chaos and craziness into the workplace anymore. So now an office Christmas party can be an act of rebellion. It almost becomes anthemic.
Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Chung, Kate McKinnon and Courtney B. Vance star in "Office Christmas Party. "
From the beginning, we said, "If you shoot a movie at a party, it had better be a party you want to hang out at." In a weird way, the party – that euphoric, out-of-control environment – is the sort of star of the movie, so one of our biggest challenges was creating that energy every day. We watched early John Landis and Harold Ramis movies, kind of going back to that sort of tone and sense of humor that we had always liked from the late '70s and early '80s.
Having thrown a lot of wrap parties together, we actually threw a party like we would throw a party. We've been to a lot of bad versions of an office work party, where you're stuck at a bar with an executive producer who you really aren't interested in talking to. We wanted to make sure that the lighting was good, that the music was loud, that everybody got served – or over-served – and there was a lot to look at.
We were literally going to work in a party for two months. We had 300-plus extras who were with us for the whole shoot, and we built this massive set on two side-by-side soundstages, essentially duplicating two floors of the old IBM building in Chicago. It was totally immersive. When you walked on the set, even though it was spring in Atlanta, it felt like a non-stop Christmas party in downtown Chicago.
Getting yourself into that party vibe day after day after day – your reality starts to change. It was almost like a Las Vegas casino with no clocks. It had its own energy.
It's hard when you're throwing a party to get the momentum right. You don't want to peak too soon but you also don't want to take too long to get to it. So early on we charted this idea of the party having stages: There's the part where not enough people have shown up and it's not good. There's the point at which it starts to tip and people start to invite people that probably shouldn't have been invited. And then it has to go someplace outrageous.
We thought, "What haven't we seen? What are images that we can put onscreen that can make people go, 'I'd definitely want to go to that party.'" And that became the third-act section we call "Mayhem," when the company really starts to lose its way, people realize they're maybe not going to have a job tomorrow, and they start to trash the place. The vending machine gets thrown out the window. They're jousting with Christmas trees.
The scene where Courtney B. Vance's character, Walter, swings from the Christmas lights really represented the high-water mark of the chaos of the party, and we knew that was a must-land stunt. We tested it for weeks before we shot it, but still, the extras were totally freaked out. They thought the guy had really injured himself.
The shoot was a huge amount of fun. The extras were amazing in terms of re-entering the same set every day and really bringing that party to life. For the sequences where there's music and dancing, we did it all live. We were all having such a good time that it didn't feel that hard to suddenly turn on a celebration.
What made it the most fun was the actors. T. J. Miller likes to have a good time, and it got chaotic whenever he showed up. We've never met anyone quite like him. We went into a bar once with him in Atlanta after shooting and it was like being with Bill Clinton. Within 5 or 10 minutes, he had 100 people focused on him. He just has this magnetic thing where you just want to have fun around him.
Were people really partying on the set? Sadly, no. At 8 in the morning, I don't think anyone wants to drink or smoke anything – they just want to get through the scene they're shooting and figure out what's going to be for lunch.
But by the time we got to the wrap party, I think people were sort of pent up and ready to actually have real drinks in their cups. It got a little bit big and out of control.
Ultimately, we wanted to get to a holiday movie though an R-rated comedy. We tried to combine the R-ratedness with a lot of heart and humanity – it's an R-rated movie but it's got its heart in the right place. There's that feeling of Christmas that you sort of can't avoid even while you're Xeroxing your butt in front of your co-workers.
Office Christmas parties have become sort of an endangered species. A draw for us was the idea of the movie being sort of a rallying cry that maybe we've gone too far, maybe we need to bring this tradition back a little bit.
After "Animal House," people started rushing fraternity houses again after them not being very popular in the early '70s. Our hope is to be responsible for a lot of people getting fired at their office Christmas parties next year.
Jusin Chang reviews 'La La Land,' directed by Damien Chazelle and starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. Video by Jason H. Neubert.
Justin Chang reviews "The Founder," directed by John Lee Hancock and starring Michael Keaton. Video by Jason H. Neubert.
Kenneth Turan reviews "Land of Mine," a Danish-German historical drama film directed by Martin Zandvliet. Video by Jason H. Neubert.
"Manchester By the Sea" director Kenneth Lonergan discusses writing a quiet character and working with actor Casey Affleck to bring him to life.
Director Kenneth Lonergan discusses the setting of "Manchester By the Sea," and how the location helped beef up the film's story.
Director Kenneth Lonergan discusses the setting of "Manchester By the Sea," and how the location helped beef up the film's story.
The Times' NFL columnist, Sam Farmer, examines this week's matchups. Lines according to Pregame.com (O/U = over/under). Last week's record 9-6 (.600); season 125-65-2 (.658). Using point spreads with the scores Farmer predicted, the record against the spread last week would have been 7-8 (.467); season 98-89-5 (.524).
Sunday, 10 a.m.
Steelers 27, Bills 21
TV: None. DirecTV: 705.
Line: Steelers by 3. O/U: 46.
This depends on which Pittsburgh defense shows up. Ryan Shazier and Lawrence Timmons are two of the fastest inside linebackers in the league and can chase down QB Tyrod Taylor.
Sunday, 10 a.m.
Bengals 28, Browns 20
TV: None. DirecTV: 706.
Line: Bengals by 5 1/2. O/U: 42.
Cincinnati looked surprisingly good in easily handling the banged-up Eagles last week. The Browns have had a revolving door at QB all season and are inching closer to 0-16.
Sunday, 10 a.m.
Colts 28, Texans 24
TV: None. DirecTV: 707.
Line: Colts by 6 1/2. O/U: 46 1/2.
The Texans have historically lost at Indianapolis. The winner likely will have the inside track on the AFC South crown. Lean on history and Andrew Luck being sound and getting hot.
Sunday, 10 a.m.
Broncos 20, Titans 17
TV: Channel 2. DirecTV: 708.
Line: Titans by 1. O/U: 43 1/2.
Titans are tied for the division lead and they're running the ball hard. Paxton Lynch is too raw and not ready, so getting Trevor Siemian back will be key. Too many stars on Denver's D.
Sunday, 10 a.m.
Lions 31, Bears 20
TV: None. DirecTV: 709.
Line: Lions by 7 1/2. O/U: 43 1/2.
Matthew Stafford is playing out of his mind, and the Lions defense is better than a lot of people think. The Bears are playing hard for John Fox, but Detroit is just more talented.
Sunday, 10 a.m.
Chargers 24, Panthers 21
TV: None. DirecTV: 710.
Line: Panthers by 1. O/U: 48 1/2.
The Panthers look like they're mailing it in, or at least they did last week. San Diego is still fighting, and the Chargers have Philip Rivers , who's always going to keep them in games.
Sunday, 10 a.m.
Vikings 24, Jaguars 20
TV: None. DirecTV: 711.
Line: Vikings by 3. O/U: 39 1/2.
The Vikings defense can smother the Jacksonville offense. It hurts Minnesota, though, that Pro Bowl safety Harrison Smith is sidelined because of a bad ankle. Still, go with the Vikings on the road.
Sunday, 10 a.m.
Cardinals 27, Dolphins 23
TV: None. DirecTV: 712.
Line: Dolphins by 2. O/U: 43 1/2.
The East Coast hasn't been kind to Arizona , but it is coming off an impressive performance. Miami's front seven should handle Arizona's bad O-line, but back David Johnson makes the difference.
Sunday, 10 a.m.
Redskins 27, Eagles 17
TV: Channel 11. DirecTV: 713.
Line: Redskins by 2. O/U: 47.
The Eagles are too beat up to keep pace. Their defense is still solid, but it's going to be out there all game. If Jordan Reed plays for Washington, he's the difference maker.
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Jets 21, 49ers 17
TV: None. DirecTV: 714.
Line: 49ers by 2 1/2. O/U: 43 1/2.
The hot seat is cranked up for Jets Coach Todd Bowles, especially after his team's embarrassing outing against the Colts. Watch for Gang Green to bounce back in this one.
Sunday, 1:15 p.m.
Buccaneers 27, Saints 23
TV: None. DirecTV: 715.
Line: Buccaneers by 2 1/2. O/U: 51 1/2.
The Saints have their backs squarely against the wall. Tampa Bay is playing well, and Jameis Winston can get hot. The Buccaneers defense is much better than its New Orleans counterpart.
Sunday, 1:15 p.m.
Packers 28, Seahawks 24
TV: None. DirecTV: 716.
Line: Seahawks by 3. O/U: 45 1/2.
The Seahawks are not the same defense without injured safety Earl Thomas , who enables everyone around him to play better. Green Bay seems to be figuring things out, at least on offense.
Sunday, 1:15 p.m.
Falcons 31, Rams 17
TV: Channel 11. DirecTV: 717.
Line: Falcons by 6. O/U: 45.
Atlanta's defense is better than people give it credit for, and it's got some pass rushers who can get to the quarterback. Rams defense has taken a step back and is facing an explosive offense.
Sunday, 5:30 p.m.
Cowboys 28, Giants 24
TV: Channel 4.
Line: Cowboys by 3 1/2. O/U: 47 1/2.
The pressure is heavy on the Giants, who could miss the playoffs after getting off to an 8-3 start. Jason Pierre-Paul being sidelined really hurts them. "Dak Attack" just keeps rolling.
Monday, 5:30 p.m.
Patriots 24, Ravens 17
TV: ESPN.
Line: Patriots by 7. O/U: 44 1/2.
Baltimore's defense is legit, pesky, hard to score on. But which Ravens offense shows up? The Tom Brady-led Patriots are ruthlessly machine-like, especially at home.
Clippers Coach Doc Rivers discusses the team's play in big loss to Warriors on Dec. 8 at practice the next day.
Clippers point guard Chris Paul talks about the 115-98 loss to Golden State.
Clippers forward Blake Griffin talks about the 115-98 loss to Golden State.
Clippers Coach Doc Rivers talks about the 115-98 loss to Golden State on Wednesday night.
John Elway discusses the success he's had in Denver as a general manager.
John Elway discusses the success he's had in Denver as a general manager.
A CBC Editorial: Friday, Dec.9, 2016; Editorial# 8093 The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting Company
The stall tactics, the empty claims of voter fraud and baseless challenges to the way ballots were counted has finally come to an end.
The state's critical needs didn't disappear during the electioneering intramurals. While Gov.-elect Roy Cooper started working on his transition shortly after the election, it lacked the official coordination with the current governor and his administration. It is past time to get down to the business of rebuilding North Carolina's brand. It is time to get moving.
Here is what the new governor, Roy Cooper, and General Assembly must achieve by April 20, 2017 – 100 days from the legislature's opening session. They are not matters of partisan difference, but where majorities of North Carolinians agree.
-- Repeal HB2. North Carolina has suffered enough. Get rid of all of it, no strings attached.
-- Enact non-partisan congressional and legislative redistricting. The courts have already ordered new districts, here's an opportunity to do it right. Set objective criteria that meet federal voting rights requirements, avoid needless litigation, give North Carolinians fairer representation and maybe even save the taxpayers millions in the process.
-- Expand Medicaid to provide health insurance to 500,000 uninsured North Carolinians. The federal program pays 90 percent of the cost, it creates tens of thousands of jobs, helps keep rural hospitals open and will add about $3 billion to the state's economy annually. While the status of this program is uncertain with the change in administrations, since several states are already in it, it isn't going to disappear right away. It is likely there will be something similar set up in its place. North Carolina shouldn't miss the opportunity again.
-- Enact a competitive compensation plan for teachers and principal s – and do it before anything's buried in a proposed state budget. It has been well-documented how badly North Carolina lags in teacher pay and now we see embarrassing reports indicating our pay for school principals is even worse!
-- Reestablish the Teaching Fellows Program. Along with improving pay, we need to re-open the pipeline to get our best and brightest leading our classrooms, not leading the exodus to other states.
-- Require accountability and transparency in the private school voucher program. Millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent on the "opportunity scholarships" without any requirement or notion that they're helping educate North Carolina's children. The standards should require private schools to disclose business operation details and salaries of faculty and administration along with student performance data.
There's to do and we'll be following soon with more suggestions for our new governor and the legislature.
We're not quite off to the start that we should have had on these important matters. The governor and legislature need to work together and get this done.
We have lost time and ground to make up.
The mesmerising moment a Feather Star was caught swimming through the sea was captured by a professional diver. The beautiful creature, officially called a crinoid, was filmed by Dutch diver Els van den Eijnden off the coast of Bali. Crinoids are not uncommon in areas where coral grows, but they are hardly ever seen swimming. Since they are almost always found attached to rocks or coral the footage is extremely rare. In this case it appears the creature has been knocked from its base and has to swim. References to half-bird half-fish sea animals in old texts are thought to be crinoids, which belongs to the same family as star fish and sea urchins. The unusual movements mean that the video clip has now gone viral with people all over the world mesmorised by the feathered creature.
Derek Ryan waited longer than most NHL players for his chance. Now, nearing 30 years old, he's making the most of it.
Ryan scored twice, Cam Ward made 21 saves and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 on Thursday night.
Ryan had his first multigoal performance in 20 NHL games. A fixture in the lineup since being called up from the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL on Nov. 11, Ryan has six points in the last seven games.
"Pretty remarkable. Hard to even put it into words," Ryan said. "It's one of those nights where you'll remember it."
Once considered too small and a step too slow for the NHL, the journeyman from Spokane, Wash., who will turn 30 on Dec. 29, has proved he can play at this level after years of playing in the minor leagues and in Europe.
"I don't think it's just tonight that's proven that," Ryan said. "I think I've tried to prove that through the early part of this season and even last year, in the games that I played here. But it's nice to get those goals and feel like I can contribute at a high level in this league."
Brock McGinn also scored for Carolina.
Drew Doughty scored for the Kings and Jeff Zatkoff made 15 saves in his first 60-minute performance of the season.
Andrej Nestrasil fed Ryan for the first score of the game with 2:09 left in the first. With Kings defensemen Alec Martinez and Jake Muzzin on the same man, Nestrasil found Ryan all alone, and he broke away for the backhand around Zatkoff.
Ryan made it 2-0 at 13:13 in the second period, finishing off an impressive passing sequence with for a short-handed goal. After breaking into a 2-on-1, Ryan sent a no-look backhand pass around defenseman Drew Doughty to McGinn, and McGinn sent the puck under a diving Doughty back to Ryan, who banked it off the near post.
"We've done that a couple times together in Charlotte," Ryan said. "I felt some pressure from Doughty there and I tried to get it over to him behind my back. I was kind of expecting him to shoot it, but he ended up putting it right on my tape for a wide open net.
"Probably one of those goals that my family will watch for a while."
It appears as though his family get to watch him in the NHL for a little longer, as he's impressed the Carolina coaching staff with his work ethic and playmaking abilities.
"It's a good story," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. "He's got a great hockey mind, he's got elite vision and he makes plays."
McGinn sniped one top-shelf over Zatkoff 4:20 into the third period to make it 3-0.
Doughty's goal closed the scoring at 12:50 in the third period.
Hurricanes center Elias Lindholm missed his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury. Defensemen Klas Dahlbeck and Ryan Murphy were healthy scratches.
The Canes finish a three-game California trip in San Jose on Saturday night.
She rose to fame as the stunning blonde on Prince Harry's arm but Cressida Bonas has certainly gone on to prove her worth as a budding stage star. The budding actress has thrown her energy into her new West End role, starring as Daisy in an immersive theatre version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel, The Great Gatsby. Cressida, 27, beamed as she took to the stage on the press night of her new performance and posed up with the director and her fellow stage stars after the show. After the show, a chic Cressida posed for photographers wearing a daring sheer shirt and skin-tight black jeans, which she offset with wedged boots. The actress wore her hair in bouncy curls and posed up with director, Linnie Reedman, and Ludovic Hughes, who plays Jay Gatsby alongside Cressida. The 27-year-old socialite and actress, who dated Prince Harry for two years until their split in 2014, plays leading lady Daisy Buchanan - and the show's director was reported to be 'thrilled' to have her on board. In images taken on the night, Cressida can be seen dressed in an ethereal blue and gold gown with a glittering silver headband worn on her forehead. The actress certainly seems to be getting into character and is seen in a series of animated shots, laughing, crying and dancing with Ludovic Hughes, who plays Jay Gatsby. For the quirky theatre production, the audience came dressed in stylish Twenties garb and were served Great Gatsby themed cocktails. The novel gained a new generation of fans in 2013 following Baz Luhrmann's big screen adaptation, which starred Carey Mulligan as Bonas's character Daisy and Leonardo DiCaprio as millionaire Jay Gatsby. The stage production, which will run at Leicester Square Theatre from the end of November until the middle of January, is directed by Linnie Reedman, who was spellbound by Bonas from her very first audition. The Evening Standard reported that Reedman was 'thrilled' to have the actress on board. Whilst reviews of her performance are yet to be shared, if her previous turns are anything to go by, Cressida's appearance is set to light up theatre town. Indeed, her solo performance in An Evening With Lucian Freud won her plaudits among the critics. Since splitting with Prince Harry, after it was rumoured that she wanted to focus on her career, her acting skills have gone from strength to strength, Bonas has been linked to Pride And Prejudice and Zombies star Douglas Booth and The Riot Club actor Freddie Fox. But the Londoner has spent more time working on her acting career this year than her love life. Earlier in 2016, she appeared in horror film, The Bye Man and also made an appearance in TV period drama Doctor Thorne. Her next film, Tulip Fever, in which she stars alongside Cara Delevingne, Alicia Vikander, Judi Dench, and Tom Hollander, is scheduled for release next year.
As chances of festive snow fade, hopes have been raised that this Christmas Day could be the warmest on record. Bookmakers have reported a surge in bets on a record December 25 temperature after the recent mild weather. The current warmest Christmas Days were recorded in Edinburgh in 1896 and Devon in 1920, both at 15.6C. And this week's rise in temperatures, which saw North Wales hit 17C, has increased hopes of a warm Christmas. Bookmaker Coral has now slashed the odds from 20-1 to 12-1 that 2016 sees the hottest Christmas on record. It has also seen a rush of money on the UK 's record high temperature for December, 18.3C in 1948, being broken. That is currently priced at 16-1, while punters can get 12-1 on this month being the hottest December on record. This week's high so far was 17C in Flintshire on Wednesday; the second mildest December day on record in Wales. Yesterday's hotspot was Exeter with 15.8C - and the conditions are a huge change from last week's lows of -9.7C. Meanwhile the odds on a white Christmas in London are at 6-1, while Bristol is 7-1 and Cardiff is 8-1. Other prices from Coral include 9-2 in Newcastle, 11-2 in Manchester, 6/1 in Birmingham and 7/2 in Edinburgh. A spokesman said: 'Those dreaming of a white Christmas are starting to lose hope as the odds are on the drift.' The Met Office said Britain can expect drier than average conditions with lighter winds over the Christmas period. However it has added that temperatures are likely to be 'below average with an increased risk of frost and fog'. But forecasters told of a 'good deal of uncertainty for this period' and claimed settled conditions are most likely. Today will be largely dry with sunny spells across the South East of England, but it will be wet in the North. Rain is expected to affect southern and central England tomorrow, while it will be mainly dry elsewhere. And Sunday should be largely dry in most areas with variable amounts of cloud and a fair amount of sunshine.
Announcing the birth of a new baby is a joyous occasion for any couple.
But these new parents decided to take it one step further with an elaborate watermelon-themed time-lapse video celebrating the birth of their baby girl.
Proud father Devon Spittle, from British Columbia, Canada, shared the sweet video of his wife, which charts the course of her pregnancy before unveiling baby Poppy at the end.
Proud father Devon Spittle, from British Columbia, Canada, shared a sweet video of his wife to announce the birth of their baby girl
She is filmed eating nearly half a watermelon at the start of the video before apparently suffering stomach cramps
At the start of the video , she is seen eating nearly half a watermelon before apparently suffering stomach cramps.
She is then filmed driving towards Okanagan Lake in a time-lapse segment, which sees her stomach growing throughout her pregnancy as she makes the same drive in the same outfit.
When she reaches the bay, complete with a large baby bump, she walks towards a sign that reads: 'Press button in case of watermelon seed indigestion!'
After pressing the button, the video cuts to a shot of her holding baby Poppy - wearing a watermelon hat and wrapped in green and pink blankets.
She is then filmed driving towards Okanagan Lake in an incredible time-lapse segment
Her baby bump can be seen growing throughout her pregnancy as she makes the same drive in the same outfit
Devon posted the video on Youtube with the caption: 'Warning: Eat Watermelon seeds at your own risk!'
It was also shared on Reddit under the title: 'Never let a woman eat a watermelon seed'.
Social media users commented on the extraordinary time and effort spent making the video, with one person writing: 'Well done; may you put as much thought into raising the little watermelon as you did this incredible video.'
Another added: 'I think you win the award for best planned YouTube video of 2016.'
When she reaches her destination, complete with a large baby bump, she gets out and walks towards the bay
She walks towards a sign that reads: 'Press button in case of watermelon seed indigestion!'
After pressing the button, the video cuts to a shot of her holding baby Poppy - wearing a watermelon hat and wrapped in green and pink blankets
In a new wrinkle in the "black lives matter" movement, an editor of a top-rated legal website is calling on blacks to scare whites by automatically acquitting African-Americans accused of murdering or raping whites, no matter what the facts.
On Above The Law, African-American editor Elie Mystal called for "jury nullification" by blacks when on juries in trials that focus on white victims.
"Jury nullification would get white people's attention. Remember how pissed-off white people were about O. J.? And that was just one dude. White people would notice if black jurors simply refused to play along," he wrote.
Mystal is a lawyer and media pundit for the popular website that covers legal wranglings and law gossip. His column came after a mistrial of a murder case against a white cop who shot a black man.
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She turned her affections elsewhere on this week's Geordie Shore, 'tashing on' with a mysterious reveller. Now it appears that Chloe Ferry and Marty McKenna's on/off romance has cooled down once more, as the 22-year-old puckered up to a mysterious lady while out in Newcastle on Thursday night. Despite the plummeting temperatures and frosty love reception, the MTV star slipped into an oversized white tee sans coat as she enjoyed a night at TupTup Palace with her gal pals. Scroll down for video Chloe - who has starred on the much-loved reality show for five series - showcased her hourglass curves with a waist cinching black latex corset inspired belt. She continued to parade her toned pins in a pair of black over-the-knee boot as she walked hand-in-hand to the nightclub. The reality star completed her look by sweeping her glossy brunette tresses up into a high-ponytail, which displayed her chic earrings and silver chain detailed nude handbag. Her thigh-flashing display comes as her convoluted union with Marty has continually caused her heartbreak through this series, after he repeatedly 'tashed on' with other women behind her back. The Northern lass - who has been dubbed 'kick-off Chloe' for her explosive outbursts towards Marty when under the influence - took to social media earlier this week to defend her self after a series of volatile scenes have been screened. Chloe admitted she had been made to 'question' herself due to Marty's antics - leading her to 'apologize for the kick-offs'. In a succession of short video clips, Chloe admitted that she hadn't been keeping up with what had aired in series 13, but was sure to address her behaviour in her messages. She said: 'Hey everyone, I just wanna talk a bit about the new series that's on TV now of Geordie Shore. 'I was basically living in a house with someone who I liked even before Geordie Shore and he just wanted to pull all the time. Obviously he would rather pull random girl than pull me and it basically just made me question, "why not me? ".' Warming to the theme, she explained how hard it had been to watch someone she cared about chasing after other women. 'The main reason why I was kicking off so much was that every single day I woke up wondering what's the day going to bring... what girls will he be going to pull?,' she said. She added: 'End of the story is I liked him and I wanted to be with him, but he didn't want to be with me and that's why I kicked-off, because it hurt us seeing him with other girls.' Despite the peaks and troughs of her relationship, Chloe and Marty were later joined by Geordie Shore newbie Chelsea Barber and Francesca Toole in equally daring displays for the night out.
Bryson DeChambeau, the self-styled golf scientist, has unveiled his latest innovation on the PGA Tour: putting 'side-saddle'. The rough translation? Standing face-on to the target, rather than perpendicular to the line of the putt. The 23-year-old American majored in physics at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and has set out to revolutionise golf with the application of science. DeChambeau showed off his bizarre-looking new putting technique in competition at the Franklin-Templeton Shootout in Florida on Thursday, and used it to good effect, including sinking one birdie putt from long range. He and playing partner Lexi Thompson shot a 10-under par score in the scramble format to sit eighth on the 12-team leaderboard. Broken down, DeChambeau's new technique involves standing facing his target, with his ball slightly outside his right foot, and gripping the club in an unorthodox fashion, with his right hand extended halfway down the shaft and pointing downwards, while his left hand grips both the club and all of his left wrist. He then swings the putter in a similar way how to a croquet player might use his mallet, swinging straight back and then through the line of the putt. The method appears odd and challenges every putting convention but it breaks no laws of the game. 'I think it's an easier way to putt and could be another game-changer like the one-length [irons],' he told Golf Digest in October. DeChambeau made a name for himself last year when he became only the fifth player ever to win both of America's most prestigious amateur tournaments - the US Amateur and the NCAA Division 1 Championship – in the same year. He professed an ambition to win the Masters as an amateur, and then briefly contended at Augusta but faded away to finish 21st. The Californian turned pro straight afterwards but did not manage another top-10 all year. He earned his PGA Tour card for 2016-17 by winning on the second-tier Web.com Tour, but has had two missed cuts at the start of the wraparound season. DeChambeau's other quirks include using clubs with exactly the same length shaft – 37.5in. A conventional set of irons has shafts which decrease in length as the lofts on the club-face increase (so a 3-iron's shaft length is longer than a 4-iron, for example, and so on.) Unlike most players he keeps the club on the same 'plane' during the swing, and does not activate his wrists, as most do for power.
He's set to leave Strictly Come Dancing after an incredible 12 year stint. Although he's been the constant thread of the Saturday night stalwart, head judge Len Goodman has revealed he almost didn't sign onto the show in 2004, for fear it was going to poke fun at his career in ballroom. Speaking to the Christmas Issue of the Radio Times , the 72-year-old - who started his journey in dance when he was 21 - admitted he was afraid the professional dancers wouldn't be able to teach celebrities 'in a few days', let alone it would be a success. Scroll down for video Interviewed by Strictly host Claudia Winkleman, he said: 'I had lots of qualms, lots! 'Firstly I was very worried it might be a mickey take of my little world of ballroom dancing, which of course was totally wrong. I also didn't think the professionals would be able to teach a non-dancer celebrity in a few days to any high standard. 'And I didn't expect ballroom dancing with celebrities would be a success. So it took me a few days to decide. Before adding: 'Thank heavens I did say yes, because it absolutely changed my life. Never ever have I regretted doing it, I've been so privileged to be part of the show.' Having worked on the much-loved BBC One ballroom show for 12 seasons, he has judged his fair share of celebrities trying to woo him with their foxtrots and pasos. Yet, Len admitted although he's 'not very celebrity savvy', he remembers clearly the personalities that left an impression for their fun factor, not particularly their awe-inspiring dance moves. And this series, no one left more of an impression than former Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls on Len, admitting he was 'sad' when the politician left. He relished: 'I'm not very celebrity savvy – I know the odd sports person but not the others. I'm a keen golfer, so it was great to shake hands with Tony Jacklin when he was on the show - unfortunately he couldn't dance and was out week one. 'I very clearly remember Ann Widdecombe but I can't remember who won it that year. I very clearly remember John Sergeant but I couldn't tell you who won it that year. He explained: 'And in five years' time, I will very clearly remember Ed Balls but I probably won't be able to tell you who wins - so what does that say about me and most of the people watching? 'The overriding thing about Strictly is, as much as we love the dancing, it's about entertainment and the people watching tend to remember the entertainers way more than they do the dancers. 'I was sad when Ed Balls left, he was the cat with nine lives but of course he went in week ten which is quite funny!' And while, the veteran dance expert must leave the ballroom after this year's Christmas special, Len - who is set to travel to New Zealand for a couple months after the show - had a few special words for loyal fans of the series. He confessed: 'I would like to say thank you so much for your kindness towards me, it's flattering more than anything. I've had so many people say to me, "Len, it won't be the same without you! " But of course it will be. 'Strictly is far bigger than any one person. No-one is irreplaceable. But I'm so flattered that people have enjoyed having me in their living rooms on a Saturday night - it's been lovely!' Len's candid interview comes after he dusted off his ballroom shoes to perform in a group dance on the show during filming for the one-off episode, which reportedly took place late last month, according to The Sun. Len's final performance will feature on the Christmas Day special where celebrities including Frankie Bridge, Denise Lewis and Ainsley Harriott take part. Earlier this year, the veteran panellist stunned fans by announcing his departure from the BBC ballroom competition. He said in a statement: 'In 2004, I was asked to take part in a brand new BBC Saturday night show and who would have thought me, old Len Goodman, would still be part of this amazing series more than ten years on. 'This adventure began when I was 60 and now that I've reached my 70s, I've decided after this year it's time to hand the role of head judge to someone else. 'It is an honour being part of the wonderful Strictly Come Dancing family and I'm looking forward to my last series very much and to whatever comes next.' However, it's not yet clear who'll take over from the plain-speaking star with a variety of star including former judge Arlene Phillips, ballroom dancer Karen Hardy and Australian Dancing With The Stars judge Helen Richey.
He made headlines last week after troubling images showed him stumbling shirtless on the streets of Sydney. Now, fallen rocker Daniel Johns has returned to Facebook after a brief social media hiatus. The 37-year-old musician posted an interview on Thursday featuring film director Josh Wakely, in which he hailed Daniel 'a genius.' Scroll down for video 'It's the most overused word in the modern lexicon, and I don't use it often, but Daniel is a stone-cold genius,' the filmmaker said in an interview with Artist Waves . 'He does things that take your breath away,' Wakely continued. 'I would tell him what I wanted the song to sound like and he would go about manifesting that. I would then lay the process out once he did that.' Daniel's post comes just days after he was seen collapsing in front of horrified onlookers in Sydney's exclusive suburb of Double Bay. In broad daylight, Daniel was photographed shirtless and stumbling as he leaned on his friend Joshua Mullane for support. The unshaven rocker had smeared pink lipstick and smudged black eyeliner across his face and was flaunting his various crude tattoos and a notable pot belly. An onlooker told The Daily Telegraph the two friends were making fools of themselves. 'Double Bay was so busy because of Christmas parties, so a lot of people witnessed his antics,' they said. 'He was making quite a scene and people had their phones out and were filming him.'
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A therapist who used music to help kids cope with trauma. A woman who taught at a Montessori school. An energetic artist who could make friends with anyone.
These were some of the people killed when flames ripped through a converted Oakland warehouse during a dance party Friday night.
The death toll from the fire climbed to 36 on Monday. Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern told The Associated Press he didn't believe more bodies would be found.
The victims also included teens and people from Europe and Asia, Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly said. Here's a closer look at who they were:
PASSIONATE MUSIC THERAPIST
Travis Hough, 35, believed music healed people, including himself.
Hough was an experimental electronic artist behind Ghost of Lightning, a project in which he created music to explore and understand his own psyche, said Michelle Campbell, founder of Mixtape, an artist management company based in Oakland.
Hough worked by day as a therapist in schools in the Bay area, using music to help children cope with trauma, Campbell said.
"Really his passion was his work in helping find ways to use music as a means of healing," Campbell said.
Hough played bass and keyboard and was a performance artist who was inspired by Prince and other male performers "who wear ruffles, glitter and makeup," she said. His shows included orbs of rhythmically pulsating light.
He enjoyed a good meal with family and friends and hiking through northern California's Redwood forests.
"He was definitely a radiant light," Campbell said.
EXTRAORDINARY CO-WORKER
Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, made a warm impression on friends and colleagues in California and Rhode Island as a musician, mentor and community advocate who most recently worked for an independent publisher.
Berkeley, California-based publisher Counterpoint Press said Monday it was devastated by the loss of an "extraordinary co-worker and a true friend."
"Whether he was recommending new music to listen to (and it was always so good), regaling us with tales of the bowling alley, offering his beloved truck for a ride if anyone needed it or sharing his much-appreciated opinions about a jacket or manuscript, he made everyone feel like they were his friend," the company wrote in a social media post. "He was kind, considerate, hilarious."
Gomez-Hall was a 2013 graduate of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he concentrated in American Studies. The university on Monday said he "played an integral role" in the school's Swearer Center for Public Service. He volunteered to teach at an elementary school while an undergraduate and later helped run an after-school program.
He also became well-known in Providence's music scene for playing guitar and singing in the two-man band Nightmom.
Gomez-Hall recently moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. He was originally from Southern California and graduated from Coronado High School.
'TOTAL GOOFBALL'
Cash Askew, a 22-year-old musician from Oakland, was kind, gentle and a "total goofball," said her girlfriend, Anya Taylor.
The couple met about a year ago at a concert in Oakland and connected through their love of music.
Taylor told the Washington Post (http://wapo.st/2gZc0Qu) she rushed to the scene after hearing about the blaze, but "all we could do was stand there."
Leisa Baird Askew said her daughter grew up in a musical and artistic family.
Cash was one of two members of the band Them Are Us Too. She had been performing with bandmate Kennedy Ashlyn since 2013. The duo met while studying at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Ashlyn said Askew recently started becoming "her best self" after she came out as transgender about two years ago.
TEACHER, GARDENER
Sara Hoda, 30, of Walnut Creek, was a "sweet person" who gardened and taught at a Montessori school, friend Carol Crewdson told the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/2g3oOTH)
Crewdson, 33, met Hoda in 2010 when they started a collective where artists and creatives could stay, avoiding the San Francisco Bay Area's high rent.
They lost touch after the collective shut down. But Crewdson said while it was operating, Hoda was very active in the collective process.
THE HEART OF OAKLAND
Friends called Ara Jo a vibrant artist and community organizer who could make friends with anyone, anywhere.
Jo, 29, grew up in Los Angeles and was living in Oakland. Authorities notified her family of her death Monday. Her parents flew in from South Korea.
"She's a typical artist. She's got more causes than she has energy, even though she has a lot of energy," said her boyfriend, Terry Ewing.
Ewing said one of her latest causes was to raise money and awareness for American Indians and others protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline Project in North Dakota.
Friends mourned Jo on social media, calling her the heart of Oakland.
UNIQUE SENSE OF STYLE
Donna Kellogg, 32, of Oakland, was described as energetic and intelligent by friends and co-workers.
Josh Howes, an ex-boyfriend, said Kellogg wanted to be a healer, the East Bay Times reported (http://bit.ly/2h0AbAl). He said she was studying nutrition.
Kellogg worked at Highwire Coffee Roasters, where founder Robert Myers said she had just cut her hair and was on the brink of changes. He said all her co-workers enjoyed connecting with her through their shared interests in coffee and her quirky sense of style.
"I loved that she had a belt with her name on it and would wear it to work," Myer said.
LIKE A BROTHER
Peter Wadsworth was thoughtful, caring and always willing to lend a hand, his friend Tammy Tasoff said.
Tasoff, 29, said Wadsworth looked out for her, doing little things that made her life easier. He would organize her messy files, give her advice and fix her computer if she needed help, said Tasoff, a dental student.
He bought video games because he knew she loved them, and he would often watch her play, she said.
"Usually he'd say, 'Let's play video games,' and then he'd say, 'No, I just want to watch you play,'" she said, sobbing. "He'd make me food. He took really good care of me. He was like my big brother."
OTHER VICTIMS
The city of Oakland also identified David Clines, 35, of Oakland, and Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, of Hayward, as victims.
Another victim has been identified, but officials said they were withholding the name because the person was 17 years old.
One of the people killed was the son of a local deputy, Kelly said Sunday. He did not release the name.
___
Many friends and family members were still awaiting word of their missing loved ones as crews searched for remains. Some gathered outside a sheriff's office for official confirmation on their status.
LONG-DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP
Among the missing were Alex Ghassan and his fiancée, Hanna Henrikka Ruax.
Ghassan is a director and producer who worked with Spike Lee and Talib Kweli. He also is the father of twin toddlers.
Ruax is a yoga instructor, entrepreneur and activist visiting from Helsinki, Finland. She arrived in Oakland in late November.
The pair had been dating long-distance, and Ghassan was preparing to move to Europe, said his roommate Vikram Babu. "He was fed up with the U. S.," Babu said.
Ghassan previously resided in Orange, New Jersey. He has lived in Oakland on and off for about a year, Babu said.
Ghassan's mother, Emilie Grandchamps, told WABC-TV (https://goo.gl/HFH3eN), that Ghassan often went out of his way to help other artists.
Before the fire, Ghassan posted video of the warehouse party on Instagram. "Oakland reminds me of #JerseyCity so much at times," he wrote.
Ruax, meanwhile, is a social justice activist who organized a large protest in Finland after a neo-Nazi rally in that European country, Babu said. "She is very gentle," he said.
Ruax's Instagram account is filled with playful photos of her and Ghassan. Last week, she posted a selfie with Ghassan where both made funny faces into the camera.
"Sent this pic to my mumz after arriving home to my boo," she wrote. "Home sweet home!"
ATTORNEY WITH A DESIRE TO HELP
Nick Walrath, 31, of Oakland texted his girlfriend, Alexis Abrams-Bourke, from inside the burning structure, saying there was a fire and that he loved her.
Abrams-Bourke said Monday that Walrath was among the missing. She spoke between sobs as she described him as a wonderful person who was open and vulnerable and goofy and generous.
"I feel like my future has been ripped from me," she said.
The two moved together from New York City several years ago after Walrath got a job as a clerk for the San Francisco-based 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He spent a year working as a judicial law clerk for the federal district court in San Francisco, and recently was hired as an attorney with the San Francisco law firm Durie Tangri.
But his ultimate goal was to work for the American Civil Liberties Union, according to Abrams-Bourke.
Helping people is what drove him.
"He could really step outside of himself and care and listen to other people and feel their struggles, and want to help," Abrams-Bourke said. "Not everyone is equipped to help in that way, and he knew he was, you know, and that was his gift."
District Judge Jon Tigar said in a statement that Walrath was an "exceptional" law clerk in his chambers.
"Nick brought his brilliant intellect, cogent writing skills, curiosity and relentless work ethic to everything he did," Tigar wrote.
'SO SUPPORTIVE TO US'
Barrett Clark, 35, was a popular sound engineer at the San Francisco club The Bottom of the Hill. And his friends say he appeared to be everywhere.
Parker T. Gibbs, chief operating officer at Magnolia Media Productions, said when he'd walk into a rave full of strangers, he'd always spot Clark. "I knew where I'd be for the rest of the night," Gibbs said. "Right next to him."
Authorities have listed Clark among the missing.
Friends say the Santa Rosa native was a sound engineer and DJ who was a "standup guy" and appeared always ready to help musicians and fellow DJs.
"Mourning Barrett Clark — so supportive to us," composer and musician Holly Herndon tweeted Monday. "Played mesmeric live techno. Best sound engineer. Always laughing & making things work for ppl."
Lynn Schwarz, co-owner of The Bottom of the Hill, said Clark was the engineer she hired to impress popular bands.
"You couldn't shock the guy," Schwarz said. "He had all kinds of friends."
PHOTOGRAPHER WHO LOVED MUSIC
Friends and family were holding out hope that photographer Amanda Allen, 34, would be found safe.
The Chelmsford, Massachusetts, native is a dancer with a passion for music, loved ones told The Lowell Sun (http://bit.ly/2gISHNd).
"We are all praying for a miracle and coming together as a family," said her mother, Linda Smith Regan.
Allen's husband, Andy Kershaw, a DJ, called her vibrant and magnetic.
Allen graduated from Bridgewater State University in 2004. She and Kershaw moved to San Francisco from Boston in 2008.
Chelmsford native Shannon Fisher said Allen took ballet as a child and later embraced "that underground musical life." Fisher described Allen as smart and funny, with a laugh that comes easily.
A photography website belonging to Allen says she shoots portraits and events.
A BEAUTIFUL SOUL
Kershaw said his friend and fellow DJ Johnny Igaz also was unaccounted for.
Igaz reportedly was playing a set when the fire broke out. He was listed on Facebook as a record buyer at Green Apple Books and Music in San Francisco.
His Facebook page was littered with tearful posts from friends who called him a beautiful soul and a true friend.
HER TRUE SELF
Riley Fritz, 29, a musician and artist from Connecticut, recently moved to San Francisco to be with friends, according to her brother, Ben Fritz.
"She was a kind and beautiful person who had the strength to be her true self even when she knew that was not an easy path," Ben Fritz, 39, told The Associated Press. He said she appeared to be the "happiest she had been in a few years."
Ben Fritz said the family was notified Sunday night that Riley, also known as Feral Pines, likely was killed in the fire.
Their father, Bruce Fritz, told the San Francisco Chronicle (http://bit.ly/2haW54C) he was flying to Oakland on Monday to identify the body. He said he would be joined by Ben Fritz, who lives in Los Angeles.
Riley Fritz graduated from Staples High School in Westport in 2005 and the School for the Visual Arts in Manhattan in 2010. She lived in several places before moving to the Bay Area, according to her family.
FINDING THEIR PLACE THROUGH MUSIC
Ben Runnels and Nicole Renae Siegrist, known as "Denalda," named their last album "Temporary Heaven" to describe the fleeting nature of life and the moments of happiness when you feel completely comfortable with who you are, no matter how different from others you may be, said Brendan Dreaper, who helps operate Mixtape, the Oakland-based company that managed their band.
That's also the message the two friends, who formed the group Introflirt, would want the world to remember about their music, Dreaper said. They dubbed their sound "croonwave" and made it their mission to create a "soundtrack for the insecure," according to Mixtape.
Runnels, who played guitar and sang, was introverted but connected to people through his music, Dreaper said. Siegrist, who played the synthesizer, was an outgoing "free spirit" who used herself as a canvas, painting black streaks or bold marks on her face to contrast with outfits like a veil, halo of flowers and white dress.
Runnels was from the East Coast, and Siegrist the Midwest. They met in the Bay Area a few years ago and wanted to send a message to people who feel out of place.
"You may feel like an outsider, but that's your advantage in life," Dreaper said. "They were completely comfortable with being themselves. I think they did achieve that. I know people connected to them. The music did that for them, as well. It made them feel happy about themselves."
The two went to the warehouse show with friends, including musician Hough, who also worked with Mixtape. They went to see Runnels' roommate, Igaz, who is listed among the missing.
Siegrist's cousin, Rhonda Ford, said the musician grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, and described her as caring and outgoing, someone who could talk to anybody and lived life to the fullest.
She said the family is awaiting formal notification of her death. Runnels' family could not be reached. He was listed by the city as missing.
___
Associated Press writers Julie Watson in San Diego, Janie Har in Oakland, Russell Contreras in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Matt O'Brien in Providence, Rhode Island, and Rachel D'Oro in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed to this report.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Goldsmiths store launch at the Liverpool One shopping centre on Thursday night. Wrapping up in a cute, cosy ensemble, the soap star, 34, stole the spotlight as she arrived in style in a jade green velvet jumpsuit and heavily feathered jacket. Scroll down for video The actress - who plays Mercedes McQueen in the Channel 4 soap - looked striking as she wrapped up warm in the statement outerwear. Jennifer's stylish one-piece skimmed her gym-honed frame and was rolled up at the bottom, allowing her to boost her height in a pair of strappy gold heels. The brunette bombshell accessorised with a matching gold watch and delicate gold necklace which complemented her glossy mane. With her tresses pinned back on both sides, the Bradford-born beauty showed off her striking features, which were enhanced by a generous dose of make-up. Sporting a huge smile, this year's Rear of the Year winner mingled at the jewellery launch with the likes of actress Tina Malone and professional boxer Tony Bellew. An icon of health and fitness, Jennifer recently told Fit & Well magazine: 'I like my body the way it is and I don't want it to change. I'm at my happy weight and feel confident. 'As I've got older I've realised that if I'm a bit curvier one month I'm fine with it and know I can be slimmer next month. I've learnt to embrace the changes.' Jennifer combines yoga, HIIT (high intensity interval training) and a twice-weekly walk to work to maintain her flawless physique. Discussing her decision to swap driving to work with walking, she said: 'It's only a mile and a half each way but it just adds more physical activity into my week without much effort.' On those two days, Jennifer follows the LighterLife Fast version of the 5:2 diet which sees her stick to a low calorie diet, replacing meals with LighterLife Fast shakes, bars and meals. Meanwhile, Jennifer and her handsome boyfriend Greg Lake, have been dating since 2013 and talked about their long-distance romance earlier this year. Former Geordie Shore star Greg said: 'It still feels like a six-month relationship because we both live in separate cities and we see each other for three or four quality days on the weekend, it means we're able to miss each other.' Obviously infatuated with the former Hollyoaks actress, the handsome 31-year-old heralded their brief meetings as the secret to their solid relationship. He enthused: 'The way our relationship is just works for us. It keeps it fresh and exciting and we never argue. 'I love everything about her. We laugh together – and she's not bad looking either!'
This is the moment a prophet 'exorcises demons' from two teenage sisters who write and spasm as the evil spirits are apparently released. Footage captured in Ndikwe village in Murang'a County, central Kenya, shows highlights of an exorcist's six-hour ritual. The girls had reportedly been afflicted by a variety of symptoms over the past three months including loss of speech, attributed to the presence of demons inside them. One girl is shown screaming as villagers hold her down and another scene shows a girl swinging from a roof. The second sister is seen with a cloth wrapped across her eyes, writhing across the floor. Part of the process of removing the demons apparently involved squirting a fluid into one of the girls' mouths, as seen in the video. A girl uses a bizarre high-pitched voice as the ritual continues. After the operation was deemed a success, a local chief told a television reporter that he was pleased with the prophet who carried out the exorcism. He told the assembled crowd: 'Remain faithful to God, as I have never experienced such a thing before.' The dramatic event, reported without scepticism on local television, attracted a crowd of villagers and journalists.
Romanians go to the polls on Sunday to elect a new government in one of the EU's poorest and most corrupt states, with the centre-left PSD party set to win most seats but fall short of a majority, leaving it vulnerable to a rival coalition involving a new anti-graft party.
After a year of cautious caretaker rule by technocrats since massive street protests over the deaths of 64 people in a Bucharest nightclub fire forced the former PSD regime from power, the dominant party of Romanian politics has topped all recent polls.
But a new party, the Union Save Romania , founded barely six months ago to fight the corruption, cronyism and inefficiency endemic in Romanian public life since the overthrow of the Ceausescu dictatorship in 1989, could spoil the celebrations.
Polls have credited the USR, led by mathematician and former civic activist Nicosur Dan, with between 8% and 19% of the vote – which, together with the centre-right PNL, on 18-27%, could make it the junior partner in a new coalition, perhaps built around the outgoing caretaker prime minister, Dacian Ciolos.
A survey last week put the Social Democrats – who have governed the country in assorted coalitions for 17 of the 27 years since the fall of communism – on 43% of the national vote, with their liberal ALDE allies on 6%.
PSD, which has promised to boost social spending and reintroduce progressive taxation in place of the unpopular flat rate income tax, won more than half the posts in June's mayoral elections in towns and villages around the country, and has a clear organisational advantage.
"They are an extremely powerful political machine," said one analyst, Cristian Patrasconiu. "They have half the mayors in Romania, three-quarters of the county councils, and a robust structure of power across the country."
PSD had already begun reversing hugely unpopular austerity programmes before it was forced to resign in October last year after being blamed for the years of official graft and inaction that many Romanians felt lay behind the nightclub fire.
Romania, an enthusiastic EU member for a decade and a major recipient of EU funds, remains one of Europe's most corrupt countries: a report by the IPP thinktank last week found that of the 588 MPs elected at the last poll in 2012, 89 – or 15% – were either under investigation for graft, had already been convicted, or chose to step down for other positions.
Whichever party wins on Sunday must walk a budgetary tightrope. Romania's economy is growing strongly at about 5% year-on-year, but average take-home pay is dramatically low at barely €420 (£353) a month.
The incoming government will need to find a way to balance an urgent need for investment in the country's neglected infrastructure against huge popular pressure for increases to wages and pensions.
Ciolos, the former EU agriculture commissioner who has led the country's technocratic government for the past 12 months, told Reuters last month the new government should first approve a new public sector wage scheme aimed at evening out major inequalities and raising average wages by 34%.
Other top priorities are encouraging young Romanian medical graduates to stay in the country (there are now more Romanian doctors in France than in Romania), and encouraging teachers and other public sector employees to move to some of the country's most disadvantaged areas, Ciolos said.
The PSD leader, Liviu Dragnea, has said he plans to prepare 200 state-owned companies for privatisation, boost the national minimum wage, introduce tax incentives for families whose children attend school regularly, and invest heavily in the national health service, including a big new teaching hospital in Bucharest and eight new regional centres.
But Ciolos warned all parties against making unsustainable promises that he said would inevitably end up increasing voter resentment and fuelling populism. "Many parties are making some of the same economic policy proposals and promises they made four, eight years ago that have not been enforced," he said.
"It is clear they are unrealistic proposals that aim to get people's attention and votes. In the future, parties need to do more to boost the trust of voters who want Romanian society and institutions to reform."
Dan, a 46-year-old mathematician and conservation-activist-turned-party-leader, hopes Sunday's parliamentary elections will represent a turning point for the country's political scene.
Polls suggest his USR party could take a significant share of the vote, its message of greater governmental accountability and transparency striking a chord in a country beset by political scandals, corruption and a lack of confidence in traditional parties.
The party is tiny - it has just 15 paid staff and a few thousand volunteers – but has big ambitions. "We believe we can be kingmakers," Dan told the Guardian recently. "If not, we will be the opposition."
The mathematics researcher at the Romanian Academy, whose profile has risen on the back of regular TV and media appearances, has twice run for mayor of Bucharest. In 2012, Dan stood as an independent on a narrow platform of preserving historic buildings and defending green spaces from urban developers, winning 8.5% of the vote. This year, as the head of a party he founded called Union to Save Bucharest, and running on a broader anti-corruption platform, he finished second with more than 30% of the vote.
The USR, its candidates made up of academics, people from the private sector and a handful of former ministers, hope to provide a strong new political voice. "This is the first authentic grassroots movement that has the chance to breach parliament," said Tudor Benga, an e-commerce entrepreneur and USR candidate for the Transylvanian city of Brasov.
"They can get seats," said Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, a Romanian political scientist, who thinks 10% is an attainable target. "There is sheer desperation among many voters. People don't know USR, but there is an anti-system mood in Romania and people are willing to overlook the makeshift nature of the party."
The party says it intends to back Cioloș, the independent politician who took over as interim prime minister in November 2015, and the party's success in part depends on this gamble. "We could have a selfish approach, saying we are against all other political parties, that they are all corrupt and the same, which they're not, and we could probably get more seats," said Dan, who balances charisma with the cautious studiousness of an academic. Supporting Cioloș would lead to the best outcome for Romania, he added.
"We can't compete with the main parties at the level of structure, that's obvious, but there has been a wait for a change in society, and I think we are the party [people] have been waiting for," he said. Kit Gillet in Bucharest
ESSEXVILLE, MI - Essexville-Hampton Garber High School's cheerleading team is bowl eligible, competing at the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl on New Year's Eve.
It's the first bowl game performance for the lady Dukes since 1995 when they were part of the show at the Peach Bowl.
The team leaves Dec. 28th, for Orlando, Florida, to perform in front of thousands on Dec. 31, during the pregame show, before No. 13 Louisville takes on No. 11 LSU at Camping World Stadium.
"The fact that one of the Heisman finalist is going to be one of the quarterbacks...oh my God," said co-captain Sydney Potts, referring to Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson.
The team has raised a little more than $12,000 of the $18,000 needed to pay for the trip. They have been fundraising throughout the community with bake sales, can drives, a benefit breakfast and asking local businesses for help.
If the team is unable to raise the remaining $6,000, the cost falls on the parents and the district.
Those interested in making a donation to the trip are asked to email Listermen at jameylyn@lyn.com , or send a donation directly to Garber High School, 213 Pine St.
The 20-year absence from performing at a bowl game is something that head coach Jamey Listermen has been working to change.
"Garber cheer has been trying to rebuild itself," she said.
They earned the honor to perform at the big game after winning the Superior Squad Award at the Universal Cheerleaders Association Camp this past summer at Michigan State University.
"It was definitely different," said co-captain Lauryn Ulrey. "We've never done anything like this before. "
Six members of the team won individual awards at the camp, earning the option to perform at a competition in London. But the girls wanted to perform together, and decided the bowl game was a better option.
"They are a tight squad and are truly a family," said Listermen.
Garber's cheerleading team joins hundreds of other cheerleaders from across the country, all of whom are performing the same routine. They'll trade in their navy blue uniforms for orange and blue Citrus Bowl digs.
Bowl officials mail out the same routine to all cheerleaders, giving them a few weeks to memorize and nail down the moves. Listerman says her girls are up for the challenge.
"We have a really strong squad and are really good at picking up performances," she said.
The cheerleaders also participate in the Citrus Bowl parade on Dec. 29th. The next day, they rehearse with the other squads who also won a chance to perform at the game.
The trip isn't strictly business. The cheerleaders also get day four-day pass to Disney World during their stay.
"It's a vacation with our best friends," said Ulrey.
The Citrus Bowl airs at 11 a.m. on ABC.
"We're extremely proud for our kids and their accomplishments," said Garber Athletic Director Dave Schwartz. "We like our kids to be involved and take risks. "
Since the presidential election of Donald Trump last month, white nationalist Richard Spencer has been getting a lot of media attention. This week, news crews turned out in force to cover a protested speech he gave at Texas A&M University.
"I'm trying to normalize 'racism,' as you call it," he told ABC 's Juju Chang. "Absolutely I'm trying to normalize my ideas."
It was Spencer's second round of heavy mainstream media. Right after the election, at a conference promoting the creation of a white ethno-state, Spencer received wide coverage for the Nazi salutes that greeted his exclamation, "Hail, Trump!"
Each time, it's been a careful dance by a mainstream media that are attempting to cover such hate without, as Spencer says, normalizing it.
Should reporters refer to this white nationalist sliver of the president-elect's supporters as neo-Nazis or the more friendly term coined by Spencer, the "alt right"? One is a serious accusation, the other is perhaps the embrace of dangerous propaganda.
It's one of many new challenges for media that were pretty much practicing business as usual until the rise of Trump.
"Trump has sanctioned comments that were considered indecent before," says Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that tracks the rise of hate crimes and racism in the U. S. "Those ideas are now being expressed by people on [a] Delta Airlines flight, in [a] Michaels store. It's happening all over the place. People may have had racist or bigoted ideas in their head, but they weren't just spouting them off everywhere. He unleashed the hounds."
Rising hate, the erosion of baseline civility and the limits of political correctness have knocked American discourse for a loop.
Trump's casual use of language that walks the line of hate-speech, and many Americans' willingness to overlook it, has left the media the task of navigating such language without falling into the trap of making it their own. And frankly, they haven't always succeeded.
During the recently concluded presidential campaign, prime-time CNN hosts and analysts read and screamed words at each other formerly reserved for R-rated films.
When Trump was caught on tape bragging about making aggressive sexual advances on women, many family newspapers loosened their usually conservative standards of language they'd allow into print.
"The past 12 months might be remembered as the year of Donald Trump," read an extremist website associated with Spencer while it was sponsoring a post-election celebration. "It was a time when more people joined our movement then ever before and when our ideas began invading the mainstream."
What's ironic is that it was the so-called mainstream, which includes the "liberal" entertainment industry, that gave Trump his greatest platform up until the presidency in the form of a reality TV competition. In "The Apprentice" he played boss in a fabricated workplace where contestants' futures rested on his judgment. And it was none other than former VH1 reality star Tila Tequila who tweeted a picture of herself and two others happily giving the Nazi salute from a party before the same conference where Spencer hailed Trump.
Just ask his peers from the world of television.
NBC fired Billy Bush from the "Today" show after the leak of the "Access Hollywood" tape that captured him joking with and encouraging Trump, who bragged about his vulgar treatment of women. Cooking show host and "Dancing with the Stars" contestant Paula Deen lost her Food Network empire after a discrimination lawsuit revealed she'd used derogatory terms, including the "N-word." Dwayne Chapman of "Dog the Bounty Hunter" was temporarily suspended from the A&E show after a taped phone call in which he spewed racial epithets was made public.
Politics may now be the place to air such ugliness without the fear of reprisal, but it was celebrity that got him there. So much for Hollywood being out of touch with middle-class white voters.
The American Bar Assn. defines hate speech as "speech that offends, threatens, or insults groups, based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other traits," and many use this definition as a basis for setting rules of civility in their respective institutions.
But there are a sizable number of Americans who see civil discourse as an unwelcome outgrowth of political correctness, a liberal gag order that has finally been lifted with Trump.
Earlier this summer, in a year that Hollywood and the Oscars sought to diversify after a groundswell of criticism over its largely Anglo ranks, a reboot of "Ghostbusters" with a black and female leads generated epic trolling and outrage over the movie's "forced diversity," so much so that its actors received death threats.
The 1st Amendment protects neo-Nazi sentiment in the same way it does Black Lives Matter slogans or the bizarre chants of the Westboro Baptist Church when members picket funeral services. Oh, and flag burning.
But the mainstreaming of hate speech has put the creators of social media platforms in the odd position of policing their users. The old argument of where to draw line between freedom of expression and dangerous rhetoric is now being tested in ways that we couldn't have imagined just a year ago.
Just last month Facebook promised to better monitor the dissemination of propaganda by faux news organizations, some of which were created by Russian hackers.
Many of the most shared "news" stories leading up to the presidential election were fabricated, yet according to analytics they often topped reported news from sources such as the New York Times in the number of shares they received: The pope endorses Trump! A Democratic operative was murdered after agreeing to testify against Hillary Clinton!
Twitter pledged to crack down on trolls and accounts that promote "violent threats, harassment, hateful conduct, and multiple account abuse." It even specified that Trump would not be immune if he violates its rules.
The coming Trump administration, where the chief White House strategist has been the head of the Breitbart website, which disseminated some of the most inflammatory headlines and stories of the presidential campaign, is certainly going to test the limits of civility.
How the democracy-challenging tests on free speech will be covered in the media, and manifest in film and television, is an ongoing experiment whose outcome is as unpredictable as Trump's win once was.
Jusin Chang reviews 'La La Land,' directed by Damien Chazelle and starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. Video by Jason H. Neubert.
Justin Chang reviews "The Founder," directed by John Lee Hancock and starring Michael Keaton. Video by Jason H. Neubert.
Kenneth Turan reviews "Land of Mine," a Danish-German historical drama film directed by Martin Zandvliet. Video by Jason H. Neubert.
"Manchester By the Sea" director Kenneth Lonergan discusses writing a quiet character and working with actor Casey Affleck to bring him to life.
Director Kenneth Lonergan discusses the setting of "Manchester By the Sea," and how the location helped beef up the film's story.
Director Kenneth Lonergan discusses the setting of "Manchester By the Sea," and how the location helped beef up the film's story.
She's never been afraid to show off her fantastic figure in her modelling shoots. But Barbara Palvin posed for her raciest shoot to date as she went underwear free in LOVE magazine's latest video advent clip. Mimicking Sharon Stone's iconic scene in Basic Instinct, the Hungarian model, 23, left nothing to the imagination. Scroll down for video Directed by Phil Poynter, the steamy clip, entitled LOVE Basic Instinct, pays homage to the erotic nineties thriller. Clad in just a white crepe dress and black lace up heels from DSquared2, Barbara bore a striking resemblance to the Catherine Tramell character. Puffing on a cigarette as she sits in the interrogation room, the Sports Illustrated model also recites the lines from the classic film, but the ultimate comparison comes as she uncrossed her legs slowly and deliberately to reveal that she has gone underwear-free. The racy offering marks Barbara's debut in the LOVE Advent, and she will no doubt become a regular offering as fans went wild for the sizzling clip. The brunette bombshell's clips will no doubt also catch the attention of Leonardo DiCaprio and Lewis Hamilton - who she has previously been linked to. Barbara is no stranger to donning a skimpy ensemble, having modelled for both Sports Illustrated and Victoria's Secret. Now in its sixth year, LOVE Video Advent 2016 is supported by Agent Provocateur, Coach, Dsquared2, and Marc Jacobs Beauty. So far, Bella Hadid, Irina Shayk, Rita Ora, Ireland Baldwin, Kendall Jenner and Emily Ratajkowski have taken part in the advent calendar. Models still to take part include: Alessandra Ambrosio, Alexa Chung, Ciara, Chrissy Teigen, Daisy Lowe and Gigi Hadid, amongst others. Barbara's clip will no doubt be as iconic as the Basic Instinct scene itself, which Sharon later revealed was filmed without her consent. She told the Daily Express : 'In those days... it's not like now where everything is high definition, and when I looked at the monitor you really couldn't see anything. " 'So when I saw it in the theatre, with a bunch of other people, I was like (in shock).' However, she reasoned: 'It's so right for the movie and so right for the character but if I would have gotten that (perfect shot), even by accident, I would have had the courtesy to show it to my actor. But, I would have kept it in the movie.'
If you bought Publix Premium pancake and waffle mixes lately, you're going to want to check the box. Publix Super Markets is issuing a recall for some of those products after the supplier said a milk powder used in the mix may contain salmonella.
The mixes were sold at stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The recalled products include 16-ounce boxes of Publix Premium Banana-Flavored Chocolate Chip Pancake & Waffle Mix, Pumpkin Pancake & Waffle Mix and Blueberry Flavored Pancake & Waffle Mix.
No one has reported getting sick from the product, but exposure to salmonella can cause diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever. The chain recalled the products out of an abundance of caution.
Most people who are exposed to the bacteria recover, even without treatment. For those with compromised immune systems, this kind of infection can be much more serious and require hospitalization. The elderly and infants also can have a hard time fighting off these infections.
The products have been pulled from store shelves, according to a Publix representative.
However, if you have a box on your shelf, you can return it to the store where you bought it for a full refund.
If you have questions, call Publix Customer Care at 1-800-242-1227.
An inquiry has been launched into how a memo threatening to sack senior ministers and mandarins caught leaking Cabinet secrets to the media was leaked itself, Downing Street announced today. Yesterday it was revealed that Theresa May had launched an extraordinary crackdown on anyone suspected of revealing Government splits or secrets. Ironically, the draconian action was revealed in a letter from Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood that was leaked to the Mail On Sunday. Today the Prime Minister's spokeswoman said the Government is taking the latest leak 'extremely seriously' and suggested the culprit will be sacked. In a further humiliation for the Government, an investigation is now under way to identify who leaked news about the crackdown on leaks. It is further evidence of the growing signs of Brexit panic in Downing Street and the secretive nature of the Government's plans for negotiations with the EU. Asked if any action is being taken about yesterday's leak, the PM's spokeswoman said today: 'The usual process for leaks is being followed.' 'We will take this issue extremely seriously.... The civil service code sets out very clearly the role of civil servants and how they are expected to behave with regard to official information.' 'Action is being taken to follow up and investigate on that – that's the position. 'There will be an investigation and appropriate action taken if perpetrators are identified.' Sir Jeremy's reputation for Whitehall secrecy dates back to his role in the Iraq War, and has led to him being dubbed 'Sir Cover-Up'. He told mandarins about the crackdown in a written letter instead of an email in an attempt to keep it secret. But enraged insiders, who called the crackdown 'quasi totalitarian', leaked the memo to the Mail On Sunday. Significantly, Sir Jeremy also sent the letter to Paddy McGuinness, Deputy National Security Advisor at the Cabinet Office. The diktat follows a series of Cabinet leaks, splits and rows over Brexit and other issues involving Mrs May, Chancellor Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Brexit Minister David Davis and International Trade Minister Liam Fox. Sir Jeremy said the leaks crackdown comes on the orders of Mrs May, who has struggled to impose the same rigid control over No 10 than she previously did over the Home Office. Her stern tone can be clearly heard in the letter from Heywood – who adds she will reinforce the message in a personal missive to Ministers. Sir Jeremy's letter, headed 'OFFICIAL: SENSITIVE. Security of Information' says the 'spate of corrosive leaks' must end. It said: Sir Jeremy said: 'The Prime Minister has directed that we urgently tighten security processes and improve our response to leaks. 'She has instructed that we begin this work immediately and expects to see rapid and visible improvement. 'Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and senior officials set the tone in an organisation and no amount of process will make up for an environment where leaks are accepted. 'If leaders think they are the necessary cost of open ways of working they are mistaken.' Sir Jeremy vowed to impose 'tough disciplinary measures when a culprit has been identified to show leaking will never be tolerated'. He demanded a 'strict' ban on ministers and officials using their own mobiles and says he will take personal charge of mole witch-hunts led by the 'Cabinet Office Government Security team' – Whitehall jargon for spooks. Sir Jeremy added: 'I have already strengthened the controls for sensitive Cabinet Committee papers. We will review areas most vulnerable to leaks and tighten up security in those departments.' He said this will require 'cultural change'. Underlining May's influence, Sir Jeremy said it was vital to 'meet the Prime Minister's expectations' as he clarified the ruthless new 'codes of conduct' and threats of sackings. 'The Government Security team will be in touch shortly to put tighter processes in place,' says Sir Jeremy, adding: 'The PM will be writing in similar terms to Ministers.' In the secret letter Sir Jeremy suggested he has 'lost trust in our people to act properly' and raises the spectre of mandarins having to return to the old days of 'hard copy' letters, rather than emails, to beat the leakers. But being a hard copy didn't prevent his letter from being leaked. He also gunned for unnamed Ministers and officials suspected of leaks, vowing to target 'weaknesses'. As well agent McGuinness, now responsible for 'intelligence, security and resilience', Sir Jeremy sent his letter to Sue Gray, Whitehall's head of ethics, and Simon Case, the PM's Principal Private Secretary. The letter came amid reports that Mrs May is edging towards a so-called 'soft Brexit' rather than a 'hard' one. She faces mounting pressure to spell out her position but is reluctant to do so for fear of giving an advantage to the EU in the run-up to Brexit negotiations next spring. Government nerves have been heightened ahead of this week's Supreme Court hearing into whether Parliament must be given a say before Mrs May triggers Article 50 of the EU Treaty to set in motion Britain's formal withdrawal from Brussels. She is due to start this process in March.
That's why the players swear by a coach who never curses, and why the Lions still get fired up about following their stoic leader, no matter what the fans might think of Jim Caldwell or how the media grapples with him.
It's also part of the reason why, at least in some unseen and soft-spoken ways, the Lions are in the position they're in now, in first place in their division and playing well in December — something that rarely happened before Caldwell arrived in Detroit.
Say what you will about some of the Lions' early-season problems — issues that got lots of folks fired a year ago in Allen Park — but in Caldwell's three seasons as head coach, his teams have compiled a 15-5 record in the second half. The previous three years under Jim Schwartz, they went 6-18 beyond Week 8. And it was the manner in which those teams threw away opportunities — Matthew Stafford committing turnovers, his teammates' recklessly making mistakes and a more volatile coaching staff unable to stop the hemorrhaging — that ultimately led to Caldwell's hiring in January 2014.
Not surprisingly, then, as the Lions get ready to host the Bears this weekend, with a chance to solidify their standing atop the NFC North and move another step closer to hosting their first home playoff game in nearly a quarter-century, the talk has turned once again to their head coach.
The coach whose hiring was initially panned as a second choice, and praised soon after his first season, as the Lions' 2014 turnaround included a return to the playoffs. The coach whose fate was all but sealed after last year's disastrous 1-7 start, a frustrating stretch of football that sent the men who'd hired Caldwell — team president Tom Lewand and general manager Martin Mayhew — packing. The coach who seemed like a lost cause again earlier this fall, especially after an embarrassing loss at Chicago in Week 4 left them 1-3 and put Caldwell squarely on the "hot seat" once more.
Not that he felt the heat, necessarily, or would let it show if he did.
"In this business, you're always on the hot seat," said Caldwell, who at 61 is in his 40th year of coaching. "I don't care what your record is. It's what have you done lately, you know?"
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Yeah, we know, though that hasn't often been the case with the pro football franchise here in Detroit. And yes, I know, Caldwell's shortcomings as a coach — from stubborn loyalties and conservative play-calling to serious clock-management gaffes — aren't easily dismissed, nor should they be.
But what the Lions are doing lately — and with surprising regularity, given their history — is not simply in spite of their coach, either, any more than it is to spite their critics.
"Satisfaction doesn't come from showing people, 'Hey, we can do this,'" Caldwell said, when asked about that this week. "That doesn't stimulate me at all. …. I get no satisfaction because, number one, I don't pay any attention to it. Matter of fact, I don't hear it. All we're concerned about is what we can control."
And it's that measure of self-control, embodied in Caldwell's typically measured responses to just about everything — Thursday's petty sparring match with an ESPN reporter notwithstanding — that has his most important constituency — the players — singing his praises.
How much does Caldwell have to do with what the Lions themselves are doing right now?
"A ton," said Stafford, whose is arguably the biggest reason Caldwell is here and perhaps the main reason he might stay. "He's got his hands on everything. He's the guy leading our team meetings every week and (making sure we're) understanding what the purpose and the goal of that week is. Setting the standard for us, and as far as a temperament goes, it rarely ever wavers. We understand what's expected of us, and we go out there and try to accomplish that."
Caldwell, a voracious reader who often cites leadership books and the like, was quick to credit "productive paranoia" for some of that success last week. And that's now part of the routine for his players as well, as he sprinkles his locker-room speeches with all kinds of motivational mantras.
"Too many to count," laughed Stafford, who has been the pet project for much of that paranoia the last three seasons. "He for sure has dropped that one on us, he brings it up in team meetings. It's a great one, when you think about it. In this league, everybody says winning masks a lot of things, and it's true: You've got to dig deep and find, 'Where were we poor even though we won the game? Find a way to get better.' And that's something he's instilled in us."
DETROIT NEWS
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And as one of the team's veteran leaders, it's Stafford's job to pass that on to the younger players on the roster, of which there are many more than when Caldwell arrived. A few weeks ago, for instance, it was safety Glover Quin hammering home another of Caldwell's favorites — "Opportunities multiply as they are seized" — before the home game against Jacksonville.
Tight end Eric Ebron, the much-maligned former first-round pick, did just that on the late winning drive and afterward shrugged, "I guess when you start putting the heat on us, man, we start playing better."
They do, it seems, the coaches included.
"But to see guys taking on Coach Caldwell's message, it really shows how we've bought into his way of doing things," said Don Carey, the Lions' special-teams ace who started his career in Jacksonville but has spent the last six years in Detroit. "And it's working for us. …
"He takes a different approach to the game. But because he's that calm, level-headed guy at all times, he always keeps the main thing the main thing. And when players see a guy like that, and when the older guys explain to the younger guys, 'Hey, it's not like this every place,' it makes you want to play for the guy."
It's why the veterans vouched for him at the end of last season, when his job was in limbo with a new front office coming in, and why they've rallied behind him again this fall when other teams — other Lions teams, certainly — might've folded.
How they finish this season still remains to be seen. Bob Quinn, the new GM, will have a decision to make again when it's over, as Caldwell's initial four-year contract only runs through 2017. But until then, the players will have their say on the field, and if it's anything like what they're saying now, that'll speak volumes.
"In my mind, if Coach Caldwell leaves, I'm like, 'Where are we going? Because I want to go, too,' " Carey said. "Seriously, he's that type of coach."
Dubai is taking a step toward passenger and driver safety by ordering the installation of surveillance cameras on all taxis in the city.
According to Gulf News, around 9,500 cabs would be equipped with cameras, which will be closely monitored by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
A trial phase was conducted earlier this year by putting cameras on a select batch of taxis. The safety measure will be mandatory all drivers by early 2018.
"We have successfully completed the trial and we found the cameras useful in improving operational efficiency. We are now in talks with all the franchises to begin the installation of the cameras which will be done in phases over the next year," RTA director Adel Shakeri was quoted as saying in the report.
The cameras will reportedly focus on the drivers' behavior and fatigue levels, but not on the passengers for their privacy.
"The surveillance system will have each taxi equipped with three tiny cameras, one installed near the central mirror of the vehicles, covering only the driver, while the other two are set up at the front and rear of the taxi, externally. None of the cameras will show the passengers," Shakeri disclosed.
Also, each unit will not relay live feed and will only be connected to police authorities whenever there is the need to download the footage.
Furthermore, Shakeri insisted that the close surveillance would also benefit the drivers, when it comes to finding proof in case of disputes.
"The system will have technology to detect fatigue levels of drivers, but in the first phase we are primarily looking into using it as an operational tool. This will in a way help taxi drivers prove their innocence when they face complaints against them," he said.
The observatory cameras are the latest in a series of enhancements implemented on Dubai's growing fleet of taxis. The RTA also announced it would be adding interactive LCD screens and free WiFi on some units. Khristian Ibarrola/rga
The songstress is known for her wholesome lifestyle. But fans saw a more chaotic side of Delta Goodrem as she posed in what appeared to be the remains of a big house party for Vogue Australia. The Born to Try hit maker was seen sitting in a fold-up chair in a blow-up pool and holding a hose which sprayed water off the side of the frame. In the background were abandoned fold-up chairs and a lit portable barbeque. A string of outdoor lights were laid out along the astro-turfed rooftop and fanned around the pool. In the background, the warm glow of Sydney's Kings Cross was visible. The 32-year-old flaunted her trim pins in the image, dressed in a black and white dress with sheer black mesh covering her arms and legs. She accentuated her legs with a pair of green strappy stilettos and added an oversized green ring to match. Delta's trademark blonde locks were dyed brunette for the shoot, and a smokey eye added a dark twist to the new look. The shoot was to celebrate the recent 30th anniversary of the ARIA awards. It was published just days before the Voice judge is expected to begin filming an Olivia Newton-John biopic. Delta has performed with the Grease star previously, and has previously referred to her as 'an incredible guiding light'. Filming for the Channel Seven production will begin on December 12, according to TV Tonight. In a statement released earlier this year, FilmVic said the production would retell the story of her success in Hollywood. 'The story of Olivia Newton-John will chart her remarkable path through one of the world's toughest industries, and provide a glimpse into the extraordinary achievements of one of Australia's most loved icons,' the statement read.
A simple blood test could allow doctors to spot signs of lung cancer five years before the disease even shows on medical scans. Antibodies are produced by the immune system during the early stages of lung cancer, a study found. Screening patients at high-risk for the antibodies could potentially save many lives, experts believe. Researchers from the University of Dundee recruited 12,000 adults aged between 50 and 75 who were considered at high risk of lung cancer. They all had either smoked heavily for 20 years or more or had a history of the disease in their family. Half were given the antibody blood test while the rest received standard forms of diagnosis and care. Of around 6,000 patients screened, around one in 10 tested positive for the antibodies. From this group, 207 were found to have lung nodules - lumps of tissue in the organ that may be cancerous or benign. So far, chest X-rays and computed tomography have confirmed 16 cases of lung cancer - three quarters at an early stage. Dr Stuart Schembri, who co-led the research, said: 'Lung cancer is a serious and life-threatening illness and our best hope for successful treatment is to detect it as early as possible. 'Heavy smokers are particularly at risk, but it is just not possible to scan everyone who is considered high risk. 'And within those who are scanned, a CT scan alone can falsely suggest lung cancer or pick up incidental, non-clinically relevant findings, causing unnecessary worry and expense. 'We therefore need to find a way to identify which of the people at high-risk need a scan and a way to detect lung cancer before patients present with symptoms. 'This test allows us to scan from a much more informed position and removes the stress around many patients unnecessarily having to go through a CT scan. 'But most importantly, we feel it may help us to detect lung cancer in its earliest stages when we have an improved chance of successful treatment.' The scientists are now monitoring the progress of the study participants over two years to see if the test can reduce the incidence of late-stage lung cancer. Each year, more than 46,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK and in excess of 35,500 die from the disease - Britain's biggest cancer killer.
The Blitzboks will have to carry the favourites tag going into the Cape Town leg of the HSBC World Sevens Series on Saturday‚ but there are many challengers hoping to upset the hosts.
Climate change and human activity are threatening the existence of some of the world's largest lakes. These photographs document dramatic changes to the landscape in Bolivia, the Middle East, the former Soviet Union , China and west Africa
The Philippine Navy will begin to decommission its World War Two ships from the US still in active service, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Friday.
"Some time ago I was talking with your Flag Officer in Command (FOIC) and I said we should start decommissioning some of the World War Two ships that the US gave us after the war," he said in his speech at the welcome ceremonies of BRP Andres Bonifacio (FF-17) at South Harbor on Friday.
READ: BRP Andres Bonifacio, new ship from US, to patrol Sulu seas
"The FOIC said that as we acquire newer ships like this one, we will decommission some so our maritime capability will not be diminished," he added.
BRP Andres Bonifacio, the third weather high endurance cutter from the US Coast Guard, arrived after a 38-day voyage from California.
The Philippine Navy ships from the World War Two include the BRP Rajah Humabon, BRP Rizal, BRP Laguna, BRP Malvar and BRP Quezon. /rga
A millennium-old minaret towering above Aleppo's Umayyad mosque, an imposing citadel overlooking the old city centre, a medieval covered market and a 21st century shopping mall. Before Syria's ruinous civil war struck Aleppo, the country's largest city was a busy commercial powerhouse and a proud historic centre - its long heritage on display in ancient landmarks still used by modern day traders, travellers or worshippers. But the war that erupted across Syria in 2011 exploded into Aleppo in the summer of 2012, when rebel fighters took over the east of the city. The rebels hoped their march into Aleppo marked the beginning of the end for President Bashar al-Assad, while the government in Damascus pledged to swiftly drive them out. Neither side achieved those goals, and the war in Aleppo dragged on more than four years. As the fighting ground on, Aleppo became the biggest prize of the civil war, even as the city itself crumbled under air strikes from government forces and bombardment by both sides. Sections of the medieval souq, or market, have been ruined or burnt down, and the 11th century minaret at the Umayyad mosque was destroyed three years ago. Modern structures have also suffered. The Shahba shopping mall on the outskirts of the city has closed - taken over by various insurgent groups during different phases of the fighting around Aleppo. The Baron Hotel, whose guest list included Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey; British colonial officer T. E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia; and King Faisal of Syria and Iraq, found itself abandoned on the front line. Now the Syrian army, backed by Assad's Russian and Iranian allies, is poised to recapture the city after taking back all but a pocket of rebel territory in the east. For the government, victory is in sight. But Aleppo is changed. Much is in ruins, and much has been lost - surviving only in pictures and memories. (Writing by Dominic Evans, editing by Larry King)
It is very rare that Hanukka starts on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. The first light of the holiday has been lit on Christmas Day only five times in the past century: In 1918, 1921, 1959, 2005 and 2011.
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This year will be the first time since 1978 that Jews will light as Christians are celebrating Christmas Eve. Before that it happened in 1940 and before that in 1902. It is not due to happen again until 2027, and then in 2073. Both holidays are known for spreading light, unity and joy. Interfaith families will have it especially good this year, because they can celebrate both holidays together in what has become known as Chrismukka. It is even rarer that Hanukka and Christmas happen on the same day as a violent evacuation of 40 families from an outpost in the West Bank. But barring unforeseen circumstances, that is the most likely scenario in two weeks, when Amona is set to be evacuated by December 25. This year, there will not just be Chrismukka. There will be Chrismukkamona. There will be joy in Jewish and Christian homes throughout the world. But there will be sadness in Amona, where 40 homes are set to be destroyed. What will make that fateful day even worse for the residents of Amona is knowing that the evacuation will be happening with the reluctant blessing of the heads of the three right-wing political parties: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud, Education Minister Naftali Bennett of Bayit Yehudi, and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman of Yisrael Beytenu. How did this happen? How has the Right sanctioned the evacuation of an outpost whose residents had no idea was built on privately owned Palestinian land when they moved there? The answer, as usual, is politics. Sources close to Netanyahu said he already feared his government was in danger due to the prospects of a violent evacuation from Amona last May when he negotiated the expansion of his government. Netanyahu tried to make a deal with Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog, knowing that even if Herzog's party joined his government without Bayit Yehudi leaving the coalition, the right-wing faction would exit when Amona was evacuated. He would have still had a government but he would be under constant pressure from the Right. That is one of the reasons Netanyahu jumped and wrapped up a deal in a matter of hours when Liberman agreed to join the coalition. When Netanyahu gave Liberman the Defense portfolio, he received an unwritten agreement that when it comes to settlements, the two party leaders would be on the same page. That has not always been true with Netanyahu and Bennett, who are constantly watching their backs as they try to reach out to the same constituency on the Right. Over the last several months, both Netanyahu and Bennett have switched sides on how to handle Amona and the controversial "settlement regulation bill" that would retroactively legalize close to 4,000 homes in Judea and Samaria. Both Netanyahu and Bennett were concerned that an especially violent evacuation with Jew fighting Jew and children crying could bring down the government. With such scenes, Bennett would have been pressured to leave, which he does not want to do. To prevent that from happening, Netanyahu and Bennett met together many times in an effort to find a solution for Amona. Liberman, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, and Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit were part of the effort. Initially, when a campaign on the Right got all but four Likud MKs to endorse the settlement bill, Bennett was opposed. He admitted that there was no chance such legislation would make it by the High Court of Justice and sought other solutions. But when the campaign that fiercely attacked Bennett got to him, he not only endorsed the bill but led efforts to pass it. Netanyahu wavered between warning that it could get him put on trial for war crimes at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, to strategically enabling it to advance through the meaningless initial stages in the legislative process. Netanyahu acquiesced to Bennett's request to advance the legislation, while constantly looking for better solutions that could pass legal hurdles that neither the settlement bill nor Amona could. Netanyahu and Bennett resumed working together. On Monday, instead of a meeting of heads of parties in his coalition, Netanyahu held one-on-one meetings with the heads of the parties in the coalition in an effort to reach an agreement. When Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, the chairman of Kulanu, continued to put his foot down against a clause in the settlement bill that could have saved Amona, Bennett gave in, knowing that the prospects of getting 4,000 homes legalized justified losing 40 in the eyes of his constituency. That led to the process of starting over legislating the bill without the controversial clause. It was approved in the Ministerial Committee on Legislation that night, and passed its first reading in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday night by 58 to 51 vote. Netanyahu boasted that there would be many Amonas saved thanks to sacrificing one. Bennett compared the vote to a political revolution. But both Netanyahu and Bennett know that the bill is still not the solution, because the High Court will disqualify it. They are continuing to work with Mandelblit and Shaked to find a solution that would really work. Currently, the bill is set to be advanced in committee next Monday and ready for its final readings in the Knesset two days later. But the vote is unlikely to happen that day. The delay might be advertised as designed to wait out for the Trump administration to take over from outgoing President Barack Obama. Liberman called for waiting with the bill on Sunday at the Saban Forum in Washington. But the real reason is they want to continue to find a better legal solution. It would also be better politically for all three parties if the Amona evacuation happens while the settlement bill is still hanging in the air. The violence of the settlers would be seen as selfish, potentially harming a long-term solution for 100 times as many homes. But try telling that to the people of Amona.
When Chrismukkamona comes, they will be doing anything but celebrating.
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Buzz Aldrin , prepare for lift off.
After spending more than a week at a New Zealand hospital, Aldrin's assistant tweeted a photo Friday morning showing the legendary NASA astronaut on an airplane with the caption, "Bye bye New Zealand! Hope to see you again! (But next time for vacation and not evacuation)."
Bye bye New Zealand! Hope to see you again! (But next time for vacation and not evacuation) pic.twitter.com/MYRFAchFmF
Aldrin, the second person to walk on the moon, had to be evacuated from the South Pole on December 2 after a medical emergency. Aldrin later released a statement saying he "started to feel a bit short of breath" and, upon further evaluation, doctors discovered some congestion in his lungs.
The 86-year-old had been in Antarctica "to experience and study conditions akin to Mars ," according to his website.
As @TheRealBuzz is recovering I did want to let people know that he did make it to the South Pole which was his objective. Thnx for prayers! pic.twitter.com/jDWcq7PvU0
Prior to his medical evacuation, Aldrin became the oldest person to reach the South Pole.
This week saw her earn her first every Grammy nomination. And so it was time to celebrate for Demi Lovato on Thursday night as she headed to Hollywood hotspot The Nice Guy for her management company Roc Nation's party. The singer looked gorgeous in her chic navy jumpsuit for the festive bash. Scroll down for video Demi, 24, chose a draped jumpsuit for the fun night out, which nipped her in at the waist with its wide black belt detail. She added classic black pumps and a pop of colour with her bright orange clutch bag. Her dark locks were styled into glossy curls which tumbled around her shoulders, while her makeup was looking flawless. Despite her eventful week, Demi didn't exactly look in the mood to party, seeming a little subdued as she left the bash. On Tuesday the singer scored a best pop vocal album Grammy nomination for her fifth studio record Confident from last year. 'I still can't believe I've been NOMINATED FOR A GRAMMY.... you guys have no idea how unbelievably grateful and happy I am.. wow... #pinchme,' the former Disney Channel starlet - who boasts 128.6M followers - tweeted on Tuesday. 'I'll never forget this day. Going to bed with a dream that came true after so many years.. #honored #grateful #surreal.' Demi - born Demetria - will face heavy competition against Adele, Ariana Grande, Sia, and Justin Bieber when the ceremony airs February 12 on CBS. Demi will next put her four-octave pipes to use headlining Brazil's Z Festival happening in São Paulo this Saturday.
A distant galaxy has been found 'churning out' stars at an unusual rate. Compared to our galaxy, which forms one sun-sized star each year, there are 4,500 solar masses worth of stars being produced in this stellar production line. But exactly how it works is a mystery. Astronomers hope studying this galaxy further will be a step towards understanding how galaxies like this one grow to become as large and stay together, without a supermassive black hole swallowing up their contents. Researchers from the University of Florida discovered the galaxy, known as SPT 0346-52, by peering 12.7 billion light years away, giving a glimpse of the universe when it was less than a billion years old. It bright light revealed it was churning out an unusually high number of stars. 'Astronomers call galaxies with lots of star formation "starburst' galaxies",' said co-author Anthony Gonzalez, from the University of Florida. 'That term doesn't seem to do this galaxy justice, so we are calling it a "hyper-starburst" galaxy.' After astronomers discovered the galaxy, known as SPT 0346-52, with the National Science Foundation's South Pole Telescope (SPT), they observed it with several space and other ground-based telescopes - just to make sure their conclusions were correct. When the galaxy was first discovered, the international Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile revealed it gave off an extremely bright infrared emission. This suggested either the galaxy could be undergoing a tremendous burst of star birth, or gas falling into a black hole at its centre could make it incredibly hot. Supermassive black holes are incredibly dense areas in the centre of galaxies with masses that can be billions of times that of the sun. Most massive galaxies have supermassive black holes at their centres, and their intense gravitational pull is thought to be what stars in galaxies orbit around. To work out which it was, researchers used Nasa's Chandra X-ray Observatory and CSIRO's Australia Telescope Compact Array, a radio telescope. But no X-rays or radio waves were detected, so a black hole was ruled out as being responsible for most of the bright infrared light. 'We now know that this galaxy doesn't have a gorging black hole, but instead is shining brightly with the light from newborn stars,' said Jingzhe Ma of the University of Florida, who led the new study. 'This gives us information about how galaxies and the stars within them evolve during some of the earliest times in the universe.' Stars are forming at a rate of about 4,500 times the mass of the sun every year in SPT0346-52, one of the highest rates seen in a galaxy. This is huge compared to a galaxy like the Milky Way that only forms about one solar mass of new stars per year. The high rate of star formation implies a large reservoir of cool gas in the galaxy is being converted into stars, with unusually high efficiency. Astronomers hope that by studying more galaxies like SPT0346-52 they will learn more about the formation and growth of massive galaxies and the supermassive black holes at their centres. 'For decades, astronomers have known that supermassive black holes and the stars in their host galaxies grow together,' said co-author Joaquin Vieira of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 'Exactly why they do this is still a mystery. 'SPT0346-52 is interesting because we have observed an incredible burst of stars forming, and yet found no evidence for a growing supermassive black hole. 'We would really like to study this galaxy in greater detail and understand what triggered the star formation and how that affects the growth of the black hole.'
Reports of racially and religiously aggravated offences are now at 'similar levels' to before the Brexit vote, the Solicitor General has said. Robert Buckland QC said everyone was 'concerned' that hate crimes reported to police shot up 41 per cent in the month following the referendum. Responding to a question from Tory MP David Rutley, who said he was 'very worried' by the rise, Mr Buckland stressed that the Government is 'committed to tackling hate crime in any form'. Speaking in Attorney General questions in the Commons, he said: 'You are right to raise this issue because I think we were all concerned with the spike that clearly occurred after the referendum. 'The total number of racial and religiously aggravated offences reported in July this year was 41 per cent higher than the previous year. 'But I'm happy to report that the number of that type of reported offence has now declined and are at similar levels to before the referendum.' The latest figures come after Polish factory worker Arek Jozwik, 40, died following a vicious beating by a teenage mob in a suspected hate crime. CCTV images have been released by police showing Mr Jozwik and two friends having an argument with the gang in Harlow, Essex last month. Six teenagers have been arrested and released on police bail. The Jewish and Eastern European communities have been subject to campaigns of intimidation and abuse with some calling them 'vermin' and saying they should leave Britain or be killed. The National Police Chiefs' Council said this has since subsided and there have been four consecutive weeks of reductions. Figures provided by forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland show police logged 2,778 hate crimes and incidents from August 5 to 18. This was a fall of 479 on the previous fortnight, but a 14 per cent increase on the equivalent period last year.
Ah, the holidays. Everyone is out decking the halls, drinking eggnog, and spending too much on gifts because they didn't have a game plan beforehand. It's so easy to go overboard when you're getting things for friends and family, and while you may think that being broke is just something that happens during the holidays, that doesn't have to be the case! Here's a gift from me to you: My 6 best ways to save money on the holidays!
The post 6 Smart Ways to Save Money on the Holidays appeared first on L Bee and the Moneytree.
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Cape Town – Suspended ANC Western Cape head Marius Fransman's
urgent application to access documents attached to the ANC's integrity
commission report on him has failed.
Western Cape High Court Judge Andre le Grange on Friday
dismissed his application with costs.
He felt the relief Fransman sought was "premature and
ill-conceived".
Where ANC members were unhappy with the decisions of the
national disciplinary committee, they had recourse with the national
disciplinary committee of appeal (NDCA).
"In my view, to not allow the NDCA the opportunity to
exhaust its own existing mechanisms would be to undermine the very essence of
the ANC's constitution and the autonomy of its internal processes."
Suspension
Fransman was suspended following internal disciplinary
processes within the party after he was accused of sexually harassing
21-year-old Louisa Wynand during a trip to the party's January 8 celebrations.
In November the ANC's National Disciplinary Committee has
found Fransman guilty on two counts of misconduct and suspended his ANC
membership for five years.
The documents he had wanted included: transcripts of
Wynand's interview with the commission, copies of her statements, and copies of
any other statements the commission considered.
He also wanted the transcripts and records of interviews
with Angie Motshekga and Derek Hanekom, the copy of a report filed by NEC
deployees of the Western Cape and a transcript of his interview with the
commission.
The respondents in the matter are ANC national disciplinary
committee chairperson Susan Shabangu, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe and
commission deputy chairperson Frene Ginwala.
Part B of his application is to review and set aside the
findings and recommendations of the commission.
These include the findings and sanctions imposed by
Shabangu.
The relief in this part has stood over for later determination.
Appeal
Fransman had urgently wanted the documents by December 2 to lodge
an appeal.
But Le Grange said: "The applicant's contention that he
could not exhaust his internal remedies as long as the documents are not
provided to him is contrived."
He said Fransman instituted internal review proceedings last
Thursday.
Decisions of the NDCA are final.
"There is nothing before me to suggest that the NDCA will
not give the applicant a fair hearing whether on review or appeal as provided
for in its constitution."
Le Grange added that Fransman had failed to provide evidence
that these internal remedies would be "ineffective, futile or stifled".
The court felt this was not a matter where judicial
interference in the domestic affairs of a voluntary association was warranted.
Yoko Ono has labelled America a 'war zone' in a Facebook post sharing a picture of John Lennon's blood-splattered glasses.
'Every day, 91 Americans are killed with guns,' she said.
She posted the picture on the anniversary of the death of the slain Beatle as a plea for gun control in the country, saying: 'We are turning this beautiful country into a War Zone.'
Yoko Ono posted this picture to her Facebook page tagging her son Sean Ono Lennon
John Lennon was shot dead at his home in New York in 1980 but Ono said the pain of his loss is still 'hollowing'.
She said: 'Together, let's bring back America, the green land of Peace.
'The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience.
'After 36 years, our son Sean and I still miss him.'
The picture showing the smeared-red glasses was accompanied by a statistic.
'The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience. Our son Sean and I still miss him,' said Ono
John Lennon with his wife Yoko Ono at a gallery party in 1971, nine years before his death
'Over 1,200,000 people have been killed by guns in the USA since John Lennon was shot and killed on December 8, 1980,' said Ono.
The post has already got more than 30,000 likes on Facebook since it was posted two days ago.
While many people have shown their support for Ono's message, some are using the comments section to argue in support of guns.
John Lennon was shot dead as he stood in the archway of his New York apartment, The Dakota, by crazed fan, Mark David Chapman.
Chapman shot Lennon five times in the back from about 10 feet away and after killing him sat at the scene of the crime reading Catcher in The Rye.
He remains incarcerated to this day at maximum security prison Wende Correctional Facility in New York after pleading guilty to murder of the superstar.
The anniversary of John Lennon's death was also marked by the estate of George Harrison.
The estate of the former Beatles guitarist tweeted a throwback photo of Lennon and Harrison and wrote: 'He would come around my house a lot and my mother would give us little glasses of whiskey. #quote #RememberingJohn.'
Harrison died of cancer in 2001 at the age of 58.
The anniversary of John Lennon's death was also marked by the estate of George Harrison
Harrison died of cancer in 2001 at the age of 58 but his estate still tweet from his official Twitter account
Lake Bell is expecting her second child with husband Scott Campbell. The actress, 37, showed off her visible baby bump as she arrived at the AG + Vanity Fair Opening of Saved on Thursday in Los Angeles. The Secret Life Of Pets star, who is already a mother to daughter Nova, two, with the tattoo artist, absolutely glowed as she highlighted her blossoming figure in a tight black dress. Scroll down for video Getting a head-start into maternity fashion, Lake stole the spotlight in the sleeveless, turtleneck number which fell at a stylish midi-level. With semi-sheer panels on the side, the New York-born actress cradled her arms under her bump to place emphasis on her pregnant form. With her brunette locks styled in glossy waves, rosy cheeks and plump pout, the talented beauty radiated joy. And looking just as happy at their upcoming addition to the family, Lake's husband - who she wed in 2013 in New Orleans - was also dressed to impress. Scott cut a stylish figure in a grey plaid shirt and rolled up the sleeves to show off his impressive collection of inkings. Campbell, who met Lake on set of her 2011 HBO show How To Make It In America, ensured he kept his talented wife close as they mingled at the event. While Bell is still yet to reveal when found out she was expecting for the second time, she was very candid when asked about the moment two years ago with her first pregnancy. She revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live that she found out she was expecting her first child the day she stripped down for a steamy topless cover shoot for Esquire. Pointing to the saucy cover, she relayed: 'This day, before I went to go shoot this, I peed on a stick and found out that I was pregnant.' 'So, in my eyes, I'm just like 'holy s--t.' It was profound,' she mentioned. And after her daughter Nova was born, the on-screen star was quick to snap back to her impressive pre-baby body. Last year, she revealed her slimming secrets as well as gushing about her newborn, telling E! News : 'I think, you know, naturally when you have the baby…you are constantly jumping around and learning how to be a mom so, actually, it's the greatest exercise of all.' 'And also just breastfeeding and doing all the little things and very important jobs and responsibilities that come with those first few months.' She also added: 'I'm taking baby steps. Pun intended.' Meanwhile, while many may know Lake as the funny sidekick in numerous rom-coms, she is also an accomplished director and writer. The star's latest project What's The Point? - which she directed and stars in - has just moved into pre-production and will be released in 2017.
Premier League boss Richard Scudamore has written to the parents of players in top-flight academies to reassure them that their children are being protected as football's historic sex abuse scandal continues to spread.
The letter, which Press Association Sport has seen, was sent on Wednesday to the parents of the more than 3,000 players, aged eight to 18, in the Premier League's youth system.
Scudamore wrote: " As the parent of a young person registered at a Premier League club academy I am sure you, like us, are very concerned by the allegations of historical sexual abuse at professional football clubs. The victims and survivors have been extremely brave to come forward and have our sympathy and support.
"Given the volume of media coverage these disturbing stories understandably continue to generate, it is important that you, as parents of Premier League club academy players, are made aware of the current standards and provisions in place to keep your children safe. "
Scudamore, who has five children, then outlines the Premier League's various safeguarding measures, which have been based on national standards set by the NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit for more than a decade.
Those measures include Disclosure and Barring Service checks, which used to be known as Criminal Records Bureau checks, and full-time safeguarding officers at each academy.
While noting that the league's measures have been rated as "outstanding" by Ofsted, Scudamore added: "T here is no complacency - the Premier League's own safeguarding team and independent monitors visit each club regularly throughout every season to assess the quality of their work and guide them on any developments that could be made.
"We see t he protection of your children as a fundamental responsibility and want you to have faith that everything is being done to maintain your trust in Premier League club academies. "
Scudamore's intervention comes at a challenging and worrying time for anybody involved in youth football.
According to the latest figures from the National Police Chiefs' Council, 639 referrals have been received via the NSPCC helpline set up a fortnight ago for victims of abuse in football and police various forces around the UK. Also, 83 potential suspects have been identified and 98 clubs have been "impacted".
The NSPCC's football helpline is 0800 023 2642 and it is available 24 hours a day. It received 860 calls in its first week of operation.
The potential threat to football's future that is represented by this crisis has not escaped English Football League chief executive Shaun Harvey.
Speaking at the launch of a youth development initiative in London on Thursday, Harvey said: "The historic allegations that have come out are a concern to everybody and, yes, they may well affect the thought processes of parents thinking about putting their children into academies.
"But I think there is also a recognition that we are in a completely different era now. The safeguarding that is in place now is of a completely different level than was even considered in the 1970s and 80s. But, of course, we are concerned. "
MARRAKECH, Morocco — Icflix, the Dubai-based VOD platform founded by chairman Fadi Mehio and CEO Carlos Tibi in 2012, is finalizing its first Moroccan production – Noureddine Lakhmari's "Burn Out", the final part in a movie trilogy formed by "Casanegra" and "Zero."
A two-minute trailer was screened during the Marrakech Film Festival , as icflix's CCO, Amine Lalami outlined to Variety the platform's further plans for Morocco and the Middle East-North Africa.
Icflix vies neck and neck with Starz as the leading VOD platform in the 370 million MENA market, that has a young and highly-wired demographic and is reinforcing its commitment to co-producing original content to secure its market share. In Morocco, Icflix has an exclusive strategic partnership with Maroc Telecom, and operates as its video-on-demand arm. The latter has launched a major TV and outdoor advertising campaign. Lalami said that subscriber growth in Morocco has been very buoyant in 2016.
Icflix provides a mixture of Arabic-language content and films and TV shows from the U. S. and Europe. It is available across the MENA market and also in Arab diaspora communities throughout the world, including in Latin America, North America and Europe.
Lalami explains that unlike VOD platforms such as Netflix, where documentaries and series are key attractions for viewers, icflix viewers place special importance on feature films, which has led the platform to focus on investing in feature films shot in Arabic but which have Hollywood-style production standards.
"A show like 'House of Cards' is excellent," says Lalami. "It played a key role in establishing Netflix in the market, but I don't believe this kind of drama is relevant for our market. Our viewers are more attracted by feature films."
Given Morocco's long tradition as one of Hollywood's favorite foreign filming locations, icflix aims to concentrate its production activities in the kingdom, even when the films are intended for other markets, such as Tunisia, Egypt or the Middle East. Lalami believes that Morocco has excellent locations which can serve stories set in many other parts of the MENA region; he also praises the quality of local studios and technicians.
Icflix's recent productions include 2015 Tunisian film, "Borders of Heaven," the debut pic from Fares Naanaa, which won best actor at Dubai. When released it was recognized as one of the few Tunisian titles capable of overcoming the region's arthouse blind spot.
"Our involvement in 'Borders of Heaven' was a very successful experience," says Lalami. "Now we want to increase our involvement with Tunisian filmmakers."
The latest Tunisian production supported by icflix is "Woh!" from female director Ismahane Lahmar, produced by her production company, Hit Production, and distributed by Lassad Goubantini.
The film is financed without any state subsidies and is produced by icflix and Tunisia Telecom – which organized a crowdfunding campaign featuring famous Tunisian director and actors, that led to private donations from local Tunisians.
Given that there are many different Arabic dialects and accents across the region, icflix would like to make the Arabic used in their films as understandable as possible for the entire Arab world.
However this goal doesn't always coincide with the objectives of local filmmakers. For example, helmer Noureddine Lakhmari is proud to use the local Moroccan dialect – Darija – and says that although his films can subsequently be dubbed into Arabic, he wants the language used in his films to be as close as possible to the language spoken by local citizens.
For "Burnout," icflix is working on dubbing the film and also subtitling it in classic Arabic.
Alami explained he was delighted with the film and hopes that it may be selected for official competition in Berlin.
"I think this film will change the perception of Moroccan movies. It uses state of art technology. It has the best actors in Morocco. It shows the country in a very glamorous light, with wonderful night shots. It shows Casablanca at its best. Whoever watches it will fall in love with Casablanca and Morocco.
Alami plans to promote the film heavily on the icflix platform when it is released in the first half of 2017, including digital marketing and outdoor ads. An avant-premiere screening is planned in January
"We don't want to restrict the release of 'Burnout' to Moroccan cinemas," explains Alami. "We have potential to release the film across the MENA region and in Europe. We can use it to create a spotlight on Arab cinema."
Alami believes that it's important that local films are courageous and able to challenge taboos, while avoiding crossing certain boundaries that might offend sensibilities.
"Burnout" helmer Lakhmari shares this broad goal, but is also adamant that local filmmakers should resist any attempt at censorship from more conservative circles in Moroccan society.
He believes that filmmakers play a key role in shaping modern Morocco and challenges what he sees as hypocrisy from the current moderate Islamist government, which reinforced its parliamentary presence in Morocco's Oct. 7 general election.
"What they're saying and what they're doing are two different things. As an artist, you can't avoid talking about this. Some of us are talking about this. We can't just let them do whatever they want."
For "Burnout," Lakhmari is using the same core crew as in his previous films, including American composer Richard Horowitz. The cast includes Sarah Perles who has a Moroccan mother and a Portuguese father, and Moroccan male actor, Anas El Baz, who also starred in "Casanegra."
The film weaves together three stories: a rich man who lives a luxury life, but decides to divorce his wife and get rid of everything; a shoeshiner who wants to buy a prosthetic foot for his invalid mother; and a young medical student who decides to become a call girl and meets a conservative politician.
During the course of the film, the different characters cross paths.
By focusing on these parallel stories, Lakhmari aims to show that people in Morocco live in separate worlds.
"I want to say to Moroccans that we live in the same country but we don't see each other. There are such strong social barriers between the rich and poor, the rich ignore the poor and the poor hate the rich."
He added: "But if you can get the different communities to talk together they suddenly feel that they're all living in the same country. My film is ultimately about redemption."
Lakhmari is a great admirer of post-war Italian neorealism and sees many parallels with contemporary Moroccan cinema. After releasing "Burnout," he would like to direct a U. S.-Moroccan English language production, but says that it's too early to talk about this project in detail.
However, he is confident that local filmmakers will be able to withstand censorship challenges and will help build upon the spirit of freedom of expression that has been achieved over recent years.
"Morocco is a beautiful country for tourists. We have a king who loves art and cinema. Moroccan people are hungry for art and culture. But for our government, culture and art is secondary. You have to invest in art and culture. Politicians are not following society and we are handicapped by that. But as filmmakers we are a strong force and we will make sure that our voices are heard."
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Created at 2016-12-09 18:38
Black Friday 2016 Weslo Cadence G 5.9i
Source: http://archives-2016.dc5m.hce-project.com/2016/12/09/18/usa_mix_en_cinema.html