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DC5m United States art in english 99 articles, created at 2016-12-18 06:07 articles set mostly positive rate 3.6

1 5.0 Henry Heimlich, inventor of life-saving maneuver, dies at 96 Henry Heimlich, the doctor who gave his name to a famous technique that saved the (8.52/9) lives of countless choking victims, has died aged 96, news media reported Saturday. 2016-12-18 00:00 2KB newsinfo.inquirer.net

2 0.9 'I think John defined what it meant to be an American': Emotional Joe Biden gives heartfelt tribute to (2.08/9) space hero in front of thousands of mourners during a memorial ceremony Vice President Joe Biden and US Marine Corps General John Dailey were among the thousands gathered to remember the late space hero John Glenn during a memorial service on Saturday. 2016-12-17 20:12 3KB www.dailymail.co.uk

3 0.3 Trump calls his supporters 'violent' and 'vicious' President-elect Donald Trump has taken to the stage at his penultimate "Thank You" tour stop in Orlando Florida, thanking his "violent" and "vicious" supporters, urging (1.06/9) them to "be cool" after his Presidential election victory. ... 2016-12-17 21:40 799Bytes article.wn.com

4 3.0 Crashes cause injuries, I-15 delays near Cove Fort A multiple-car crash involving a snow plow, a semitrailer and several other vehicles backed up traffic to a standstill about six miles north of Cove Fort on Saturday. (1.03/9) 2016-12-17 18:18 1KB www.deseretnews.com

5 1.1 The empty days of South Korea's impeached president (1.02/9) South Korea's presidential Blue House has been something of a family home for Park Geun-Hye, but the luxury residence has now become a place of solitary conf... 2016-12-17 22:41 4KB www.dailymail.co.uk

6 1.4 Thin Film Semiconductor Deposition Market by Deposition Technology, Industry Vertical (1.02/9) LONDON, Dec. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Thin film semiconductors are the foils fabricated from artificial semiconductor... 2016-12-17 21:11 1KB www.prnewswire.com

7 4.0 'Passengers' actor Michael Sheen considers quitting acting for politics in wake of Trump's election

(1.02/9) Emmy-nominated actor Michael Sheen told a British magazine he's quitting entertainment for politics. 2016-12-17 18:47 2KB www.wxyz.com 8 1.4 Bradley has no intention of considering position at Swansea despite Boro loss (1.02/9) Under-pressure Swansea boss Bob Bradley insists he has no intention of considering his position despite a 3-0 defeat at Middlesbrough which will leave his side second bottom of the Prem 2016-12-17 18:26 3KB www.independent.ie

9 2.9 The Latest: Freezing rain, snow create headaches in Missouri The Latest on severe winter weather impacting parts of the United States (all times (1.00/9) local): 5:30 p.m. Freezing rain, freezing drizzle and snow created slick roads, traffic headaches and numerous... 2016-12-17 20:51 741Bytes article.wn.com

10 3.8 iVision’s Automated Alert Response System Boosts Business Continuity, Reduces Risk

(1.00/9) ATLANTA, Dec. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- iVision has unveiled an Automated Alert Response System (AARS) that helps... 2016-12-17 19:07 3KB www.prnewswire.com

11 3.0 2016 Women of the Year: Leading ladies Reprisals and returns were the order of the year, with Glenda Jackson returning to the

(0.07/9) stage after 25 years and film reboots for Ab Fab, Ghostbusters and Bridget Jones. 2016-12-17 20:02 931Bytes www.dailymail.co.uk

12 6.7 Jamie Oliver's puddings of comfort & joy: Arctic roll Here’s a wonderful Germanic nod to the classic Arctic roll of my childhood.

(0.05/9) 2016-12-17 20:03 3KB www.dailymail.co.uk

13 2.7 Your daily dose of spiritual inspiration Contact WND If I say, “My foot slips,” Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up. In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul. Psalm 94:18-19 2016-12-17 22:29 (0.04/9) 569Bytes www.wnd.com

14 0.0 Trump's 'shifty and vague' stance on 1 top immigration issue Contact WND

(0.02/9) Many of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet selections are getting strong reviews from grassroots activists and traditional Republicans, but a leading immigration expert says Trump’s choice to head the Department of Labor could be a threat to American jobs. Fast-food titan Andrew Puzder, the chief executive... 2016-12-17 20:44 6KB www.wnd.com

15 0.3 Themes of 2016: is democracy itself threatened by tech disruption? (0.02/9) Technology can harness the best in humanity, but is increasingly being deployed against the will of the people 2016-12-17 20:05 6KB www.theguardian.com 16 2.2 Supernatural: Gospel preached in synagogue Contact WND

(0.02/9) It’s another sign of revival and, to some believers, nothing less than evidence God is moving in the Holy Land as the End Times near. Messianic Jewish leader Zev Porat, head of Messiah of Israel Ministries, recently succeeded in preaching the Gospel at a synagogue... 2016-12-17 19:38 8KB www.wnd.com

17 2.8 Kate Mara dons wintry ensemble for some Christmas shopping with beau Jamie Bell Christmas is just over a week away. So it's no wonder Kate Mara headed to Barney's in Beverly Hills on Saturday for some last minute shopping. 2016-12-17 23:48 1023Bytes www.dailymail.co.uk

18 3.2 Australia should be republic after Queen Elizabeth: PM Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has renewed his call for a republic, but only after Queen Elizabeth II's reign, as he outlined a road map for brea... 2016-12-17 23:45 3KB www.dailymail.co.uk

19 2.9 Why one woman chose to wear an ORANGE wedding gown Aurora Remember Holtzman, 41, is one woman who is not afraid to embrace her true sense of style, and the U. S woman recently wed her husband in an orange gown. 2016-12-17 23:39 3KB www.dailymail.co.uk

20 3.8 Tigerair Australia cancels domestic flights before Christmas About 4,000 Tigerair bookings have been cancelled just before Christmas. The cancellation affects domestic bookings, including the popular route Sydney to Melbourne. 2016-12-17 23:38 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

21 0.5 A Hollywood star says he may give up acting to focus on political activism Michael Sheen, an acclaimed Welsh actor who has earned BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, said in an interview that he is prepared to retire in order to combat the “hard populist right” political movement that has been emboldened recently by Donald Trump’s election to the U. S. presidency. 2016-12-17 22:39 3KB www.charlotteobserver.com

22 2.1 Ruby Rose shows off her new pink hair in colour co- ordinated outfit in Beverly Hills as she plans to spend Christmas in Australia with girlfriend Jess Origliasso Australian actress Ruby Rose stepped out in Beverly Hills on Saturday, showing off her new pink hairdo amid a pink and black themed head-to-toe look. 2016-12-17 22:30 3KB www.dailymail.co.uk 23 3.0 Cabinet briefed to warmly welcome 'president' Hillary Evidence has emerged that the Government would have been more excited about the US election result if it had been won by Hillary Clinton. 2016-12-17 22:30 3KB www.independent.ie

24 0.0 Nick Tilsley in dramatic punch-up with Peter Barlow over girlfriend Leanne Tilsley in explosive Christmas Corrie episode Christmas Day looks to be a dramatic one on the Coronation Street cobbles. 2016-12-17 22:24 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

25 1.5 Catherine McNeil flaunts her svelte figure in a bikini top and shorts as she steps out for dinner at Bondi Icebergs Catherine McNeil has been enjoying the balmy Sydney summer since returning home from New York, posting pictures from the beach and enjoying quality time with friends. 2016-12-17 22:23 3KB www.dailymail.co.uk

26 1.2 Disturbing content in a government report on misbehavior in the cherokee fire department. When a government document includes a full page warning about a report having graphic content that's a telltale sign the matter is serious. That warning refers to a picture snapped inside one of the cherokee county fire houses. 2016-12-17 22:22 1KB www.fox5atlanta.com

27 0.0 Cate Blanchett reveals she isn't worried about her career in film as she makes her Broadway debut in The Present Australian acting legend Cate Blanchett has made her Broadway debut in the Sydney Theatre Company's production of The Present at New York's Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Saturday. 2016-12-17 22:21 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

28 0.0 Johnson summons diplomats over Syria Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image 2016-12-18 00:00 2KB headlinenewstoday.net

29 1.9 The world's most powerful woman? It's so dispiriting but try Delia Smith, writes LIZ JONES To celebrate its birthday, Woman’s Hour unveiled its list of the seven most powerful women of the past 70 years but the choices only serve to show how little power women have, writes Liz Jones. 2016-12-17 22:00 4KB www.dailymail.co.uk 30 1.2 Generous grandparents will blow an average of £236 on festive gifts for their grandchildren this Christmas One in ten grandparents said they planned to splash out at least £100 per grandchild, according to a survey by the Co-op, despite a fifth living more than 100 miles away from them. 2016-12-17 21:58 1KB www.dailymail.co.uk

31 1.9 Sir Cliff shoots to calendar chart No1 after beating out young rivals including Little Mix and Justin Bieber The veteran pop star, 76, has beaten young rivals including Little Mix and Justin Bieber for the best-selling calendar of 2017. Last year Sir Cliff was toppled by boy band One Direction. 2016-12-17 21:42 1KB www.dailymail.co.uk

32 2.4 How the man who made the BBC's Planet Earth so magical had a true Jungle Book childhood living as a real life Mowgli Tom Hugh-Jones was only five years old when his anthropologist parents brought him on an expedition to the remote Amazon rainforest of Colombia. 2016-12-17 21:38 6KB www.dailymail.co.uk

33 0.5 After Ghost Ship and a crackdown, L. A.'s DIY music scene plans its response In the two weeks since the Oakland fire that claimed 36 lives at the venue known as Ghost Ship, the crackdown on other DIY (do it yourself) music venues has already begun. 2016-12-17 21:35 6KB www.latimes.com

34 2.2 Ryan Stokes and Claire Campbell cement their status as a power couple as they return from New Zealand honeymoon to Sydney's social scene Newlyweds Ryan Stokes and Claire Campbell have returned to Sydney following a New Zealand honeymoon, where they are in-demand guests at the city's executive Christmas parties. 2016-12-17 21:32 1KB www.dailymail.co.uk

35 2.1 Toys distributed to needy through CityTeam CHESTER >> With 400 volunteers fanning out throughout Delaware County, more than 12,000 presents were delivered to 2,500 homes so low-income children would get a gift this Christmas. 2016-12-17 21:02 1KB www.delcotimes.com

36 7.1 President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks reflect his own personal characteristics

Donald Trump has a mirror cabinet. 2016-12-17 20:52 7KB feeds.nydailynews.com 37 0.0 Now Oxford shields its 'snowflake' professors: Experienced academics are being offered counselling so they can avoid being traumatised by their research Critics say the move at Oxford University is the latest example of pandering to the emotionally delicate ‘snowflake generation’ who are over-sensitive to difficult situations. 2016-12-17 20:47 3KB www.dailymail.co.uk

38 0.9 Inside the newsroom: Story of battling suicide can move a community to action Teen suicide is high in Utah. But the stories of Lone Peak High School in Highland and the rural community of Gunnison offer hope and lessons vital for all families. 2016-12-17 20:45 3KB www.deseretnews.com

39 2.4 Queen's 90th year marked by fashion and rock photographer Previously unreleased image of monarch with Prince Charles taken by Nick Knight, renowned for cutting-edge work 2016-12-17 20:37 2KB www.theguardian.com

40 2.0 Blue's Clues presenter Steve Burns reveals why he suddenly quit 14 years ago... and it wasn't because he died The clues were always there... in his receding hairline. The 43-year-old presented the hugely popular preschool TV show on Nickelodeon for seven years - from 1995 to 2002 - until his sudden departure. 2016-12-17 20:33 1KB www.dailymail.co.uk

41 4.1 Twitter mocks Donald Trump for 'unpresidented' spelling mistake In the heat of posting a provocative tweet early Saturday morning, Donald Trump's spell checker apparently failed him. 2016-12-17 20:24 2KB www.aol.com

42 3.1 GIRL ABOUT TOWN: Sir Tim Rice is left off his baby daughter Charlotte's birth certificate Ten weeks after she was born at London’s Portland Hospital, Sir Tim Rice’s baby daughter Charlotte at last has a birth certificate. But , the document is missing a vital component – the father’s name. 2016-12-17 20:18 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

43 1.4 Bhojpuri film festival in Delhi: BJP promotes Bhojpuri movies to attract Poorvanchali voters from AAP's fold With Bhojpuri actor turned- politician Manoj Tiwari at the helm of affairs in Delhi BJP, the party is set to make Bhojpuri cinema a tool to change political dynamics in the national Capital. 2016-12-17 20:17 6KB www.dailymail.co.uk 44 4.5 Christian Bale goes casual in sporty ensemble as he takes cute son Joseph, 2, for a father and son breakfast in LA

He is a world famous Hollywood actor. 2016-12-17 20:15 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

45 1.4 GIRL ABOUT TOWN: Tamara Ecclestone’s husband Jay Rutland decides to name and shame the social media trolls Many celebrities try to ignore social-media trolls but Tamara’s Ecclestone’s husband Jay Rutland has decided on another course of action – naming and shaming them. 2016-12-17 20:15 1KB www.dailymail.co.uk

46 1.2 Prince Harry’s ex Cressida Bonas is enjoying her first taste of Hollywood with movie role Prince Harry’s ex Cressida Bonas is enjoying her first taste of Hollywood – starring alongside Judi Dench, Cara Delevingne and Alicia Vikander in the hotly anticipated movie Tulip Fever, out next year. 2016-12-17 20:15 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

47 0.6 Jenna Dewan Tatum shares bizarre antics wearing Cheetos panties with light-up shoes and takes dogs and fish to see Santa Jenna Dewan Tatum showed off her silly side on social media Friday and Saturday as she posed in Cheetos panties and took her pets (all of them) to see Santa Claus, including the sea creature. 2016-12-17 20:12 1KB www.dailymail.co.uk

48 1.1 'I was never dancing in the dark when it came to girls': He became one of the world's biggest rock stars but Bruce Springsteen was once an awkward teen embarrassed about his curly hair Bruce Springsteen, 67, said he often made a ‘complete fool of himself’ in front of girls when he was a teenager and would spend ages practising dance moves in front of the mirror. 2016-12-17 20:10 3KB www.dailymail.co.uk

49 1.9 F. M. B. showcases Jamaica in new video Dancehall artiste F. M. B., formerly known as Frass Man Brilliant, showcases the authentic Jamaican culture and scenic locations in his latest music video, Welcome To Jamaica. Some of the locations at which the video was shot include the National Heroes Park,... 2016-12-17 20:06 933Bytes article.wn.com

50 3.7 A half-in, half-out deal with the EU might best serve 50/50 Britain Theresa May, who never had strong passions over Europe, already knows she will have to compromise on Brexit 2016-12-17 20:05 9KB www.theguardian.com 51 1.5 French Beatlemaniac sells 15,000 items of a lifetime’s memorabilia Obsessive fan and amateur Beatles expert hopes sale of vast collection will pay for his retirement 2016-12-17 20:05 5KB www.theguardian.com

52 1.0 ‘It’s set in the trenches but it’s not a war film’ ‘It’s set in the trenches but it’s not a war film’ Producers of new version of Journey’s End want audiences to see human side of conflict 2016-12-17 20:05 4KB www.theguardian.com

53 0.0 Scotland says to unveil single market Brexit plan this week LONDON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Scotland will publish proposals this week for how it can remain in the European single market after Britain leaves the European Un... 2016-12-17 20:05 3KB www.dailymail.co.uk

54 1.1 Hollywood’s hidden Hispanics: why LA’s Latinos are invisible on screen Three big films were set in Los Angeles this year but none casts light on the city’s millions of Latinos 2016-12-17 20:04 9KB www.theguardian.com

55 0.9 HEALTH: Shine a light on better sleep A family member suffers continual debilitating insomnia due to Parkinson’s disease and I have read that bright light therapy could help. Could you confirm this and advise on how to use it? 2016-12-17 20:03 4KB www.dailymail.co.uk

56 5.6 Interiors: All spruced up The perfect setting for a magical Christmas? Interior designer EMMA POCOCK’s cool- but-cosy family chalet in the French Alps 2016-12-17 20:03 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

57 14.3 Fashion: Glow with the Flow Dazzle in floor-length jewel-rich reds. 2016-12-17 20:02 1KB www.dailymail.co.uk

58 6.7 Spotlight on Royal Ballet principal Akane Takada Royal Ballet principal Akane Takada is our Christmas Sleeping Beauty. 2016-12-17 20:02 1KB www.dailymail.co.uk

59 2.5 BEAUTY CLINIC: Supplements to brighten older faces Can you suggest a good supplement to help skin quality please? I am mid-40s and my complexion is beginning to show signs of ageing - a few more lines, a bit more sagging etc. 2016-12-17 20:02 4KB www.dailymail.co.uk 60 3.0 Toronto mascot drops gift-wrapped television down stairs An incident on the sidelines may have only added insult to injury on Friday for the Raptors after their 125-121 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. 2016-12-17 20:01 1KB rssfeeds.11alive.com

61 1.4 Drone Delivery: Amazon Chose UK Over US Due To Regulations Amazon completed its first drone delivery Wednesday in the U. K. and not in the U. S., marking the debut of its comprehensive unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) shipping service. This was a direct manifes 2016-12-17 19:57 4KB dailycaller.com

62 3.2 Kayla Itsines workout plan leads to amazing body transformation A 20-year-old exchange student from the United Kingdom is more toned and trim than ever after gaining 1.5 kilos. Helena Campbell said feeling happy was more important than a number on a scale. 2016-12-17 19:56 3KB www.dailymail.co.uk

63 2.8 More millenials are skipping college and choosing blue collar jobs instead For years, the idea of going to college, getting a degree and parlaying that into a stable career was widely accepted as the best possible route for most young people... 2016-12-17 19:51 753Bytes article.wn.com

64 0.0 Ethiopia opens massive Gibe 3 hydroelectric dam on Omo River ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia has officially opened the Gibe 3 hydroelectric dam, which is among the biggest in Africa, despite concerns by environmentalists about its impact downstream and upon neighboring countries. ... 2016-12-17 19:51 778Bytes article.wn.com

65 1.7 Khamenei slams UK for describing Iran as regional threat TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has harshly criticized U. K. Prime Minister Theresa May's recent comments about Iran posing a threat to the region. ... 2016-12-17 19:51 680Bytes article.wn.com

66 2.5 3 billionaires name the novels that most inspired them Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos share the fiction titles that most shaped their thinking. 2016-12-17 19:50 3KB www.aol.com 67 0.0 Meet the woman who FORAGES for her own food on Queensland's Sunshine Coast Aimee Clark, 33, from Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast, began to research the concept of foraging out of interest before venturing out to forage for weeds, wild plants and even bugs. 2016-12-17 19:46 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

68 0.5 A scent of bigamy & betrayal: Perfume tycoon Jo Malone's inspiring memoir is a bestseller. But angry relatives say that a few not-so-fragrant chapters are missing... Released in October in time for the Christmas market, the hardback features Jo herself, dressed in white, on the cover – the same clean look you find in the discreetly perfumed shops that bear her name. 2016-12-17 19:33 13KB www.dailymail.co.uk

69 7.1 Festive weekend getaway in the Western Galilee A three-day Christmas and Hanukka Festival offers visitors a taste of the Western Galilee’s finest attractions 2016-12-17 19:32 9KB www.jpost.com

70 5.6 NFL notebook: Bates, on Pats practice squad, gets salary boost Westbrook native Trevor Bates gets a raise from the New England Patriots. 2016-12-17 19:26 2KB www.pressherald.com

71 5.9 NHL roundup: Bruins’ Grzelcyk at home in TD Garden debut

The rookie defenseman's father works at the arena. 2016-12-17 19:23 3KB www.pressherald.com

72 2.2 Opinion Sound Off for Sunday, Dec. 18 THOSE TROOPS ROCKEDI’d like to give a shout to the program that was on this week, “Rock the Troops.” Great show. It was fantastic. They had survivors of Pearl Harbor on stage; one was 99 years old, the other was 96 2016-12-17 19:21 4KB www.delcotimes.com

73 0.9 Trump's pick for budget director has urged big spending cuts Republican Rep. Mick Mulvaney , President-elect Donald Trump 's choice as his budget director, is a fierce deficit hawk with a record of pushing deep spending cuts across the federal government to balance the budget. 2016-12-17 19:20 5KB www.latimes.com

74 3.1 Nicole Kidman's early modeling photos are the best things you'll see today The 49-year-old actress revisited her early modeling days on a recent episode of The Graham Norton Show, and the pictures couldn't be more amazing! 2016-12-17 19:18 2KB www.aol.com 75 0.5 Atheist Group Defaces Nativity Scene With Poster An atheist hung an anti-religion banner next to a nativity scene, sparking anger among some Manassas, Virginia locals. The nativity scene, located in Nelson Park, now has a banner decrying religion 2016-12-17 19:10 2KB dailycaller.com

76 1.3 This train terminates at London WINTERLOO: Rail company injects some festive cheer into its routes by making the station names Christmassy South West Trains has lightened the mood on platforms on some of its routes into London by giving the station names an injection of Christmas cheer, including Clapham jingle bells. 2016-12-17 19:06 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

77 0.0 Daimler CEO doesn't expect Trump to disadvantage European carmakers BERLIN, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Daimler does not expect Donald Trump to favour U. S. carmakers over their European counterparts, the carmaker's chief executive tol... 2016-12-17 19:00 1KB www.dailymail.co.uk

78 1.9 After Historic Peace Deal, FARC Takes First Step Toward Becoming Political Party Less than a month after a historic peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) ended more than 50 years of conflict, the FARC has taken a crucial first step toward official political recognition. ... 2016-12-17 19:00 868Bytes article.wn.com

79 0.5 How dare they joke that Ronnie will be the next rock star to go? Rolling Stone legend's wife Sally Wood blasts critics of their 30-year age gap and says she's been stunned by the vitriolic jibes Sally Wood, 38, said she finds it especially ‘rude’ when people talk ‘unkindly’ about husband Ronnie’s, 69, age and revealed more children aren’t out of the question. 2016-12-17 18:54 15KB www.dailymail.co.uk

80 0.5 How a repeal of Obamacare could affect you even if you have employer health insurance One of the first things Tracy Trovato did – once she overcame the shock of learning her 42-year-old, marathon-training husband had leukemia – was look through their health insurance documents. ... 2016-12-17 18:51 783Bytes article.wn.com

81 0.0 Police rescue 'frozen' woman who turns out to be mannequin Police in New York broke a car window to rescue a woman who turned out to be an extremely realistic mannequin. The unusual incident happened Friday morning in the city of Hudson. The Times Union of Albany reports that a caller...... 2016-12-17 18:48 807Bytes article.wn.com 82 1.0 Mexico's ruling party expels 2 more ex-governors MEXICO CITY (AP) " Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party has expelled or suspended two more ex-governors for alleged corruption. Former governors once enjoyed a sort of immunity after leaving office and also once formed...... 2016-12-17 18:48 803Bytes article.wn.com

83 2.0 Talks stall over Congo's delayed election; violence feared KINSHASA, Congo (AP) " Talks in Congo between President Joseph Kabila's party and the opposition are on hold after they failed to reach an agreement before the date Kabila was originally supposed to step down from power, mediators...... 2016-12-17 18:48 820Bytes article.wn.com

84 1.9 Election questions leave US distrustful, like other nations While the United States cites its popular votes and peaceful transitions of power as examples of its democratic vigor, elections results elsewhere can entail a hint or heavy dose of suspicion. ... 2016-12-17 18:46 5KB lasvegassun.com

85 1.5 Radio host Alan Jones opens up on being rushed into major back operation Radio personality Alan Jones underwent a 13-hour back surgery at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital last month after a damaged spinal disc became lodged in his spinal canal. 2016-12-17 18:42 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

86 0.0 Vendors battle below-freezing temperatures with heaters, harmonica and hot tamales Vendors pull out the stops to stay warm Saturday at the Proctor Farmers Market. 2016-12-17 18:28 4KB www.thenewstribune.com

87 1.1 What do you get the pampered pooch who has everything? New gizmo that lets dog owners dispense treats and talk to their pet long-distance could be the perfect gift this Christmas The ‘Furbo’ device connects with an app on pet-lovers’ mobile phones, allowing them to watch their dogs via a high-definition camera with night vision. 2016-12-17 18:26 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

88 2.2 Cruz Beckham 11, is sprayed with snow in backstage footage of his releases debut music video for Christmas charity single

He has released his debut single at the tender age of 11. 2016-12-17 18:24 4KB www.dailymail.co.uk 89 0.0 Social media is damaging the confidence of Britons in the bedroom More than half of Facebook and Instagram users surveyed admitted that reading romantic or fitness-related updates left them feeling insecure about their bodies. 2016-12-17 18:23 1KB www.dailymail.co.uk

90 1.8 Mail on Sunday's health quiz From social media trends including the ab crack and the thigh gap, to Prime Minister Theresa May's incurable condition - take the Mail on Sunday health quiz to see what you've learned this year. 2016-12-17 18:15 7KB www.dailymail.co.uk

91 3.0 Louisa Johnson flashes her bra in white boiler suit at Liverpool concert Louisa Johnson, 18, was putting in an appearance at the Radio City Christmas Live event, held at The Echo Arena in Liverpool on Saturday. 2016-12-17 18:15 4KB www.dailymail.co.uk

92 1.1 Barry Fugatt: Charlie the Christmas cactus is low- maintenance companion While I don’t recommend talking to plants, the fact is that many of us do. And as long as the communication is one way — the plant isn’t talking back to you — no mental health red flags are raised as far as I can see. ... 2016-12-17 18:10 811Bytes article.wn.com

93 1.6 How to make this year's Christmas dinner the most Instagram-worthy yet This Christmas get the most Instagram-worthy shot of your festive dinner by becoming a pro food porn photographer in only a few steps. FEMAIL reveals how. 2016-12-17 18:04 3KB www.dailymail.co.uk

94 0.5 Is Donald Trump really a Beatrix Potter fan? Why did Alan Bennett hide in his gazebo with a water pistol? Craig Brown's festive books quiz reveals all Who admitted to shooting squirrels out of their bathroom window? Which novel features the characters Hereward Macbeth and Mr Wang? Test your knowledge in our bumper festive books quiz. 2016-12-17 18:01 8KB www.dailymail.co.uk

95 2.8 The holly and the Kylie: the singer sparkles at the Royal Albert Hall with a cheerful ragbag of a setlist This is a gig for which Event may be partly responsible. Last December, when Kylie Minogue staged her first Christmas show, I said it should become a tradition. 2016-12-17 18:01 1KB www.dailymail.co.uk 96 1.1 Touching new Royal portrait captures a tender mother-son moment as the Queen struggles to hold back a laugh at a joke made by Prince Charles Sources at the shoot reveal that the touching photograph was taken moments after the Prince of Wales cracked a joke – and captures Her Majesty struggling to hold back a laugh. 2016-12-17 18:01 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

97 1.8 A compelling Ruth Wilson registers every flickering emotion as Hedda Gabler in a dark, devastating, triumphant production for our times I’ve never seen a Hedda Gabler who wasn’t encased in a boned, tightly laced corset. Ruth Wilson’s Hedda isn’t even wearing a bra, just a loosely figure-skimming silk slip. 2016-12-17 18:00 6KB www.dailymail.co.uk

98 2.0 Keep your spirits up...with warming whiskies and corking cognacs, your very own 'portable firesides' Christmas is a great excuse to fire the big guns of whisky and cognac. Both are portable firesides: warming, contemplative and to be treated with respect. 2016-12-17 18:00 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

99 3.4 Unite challenger: ‘We have to focus on how to grow unions, not influence in Westminster’ In his first campaign interview, centrist candidate Gerard Coyne says it is time to refocus on members’ needs 2016-12-17 18:00 6KB www.theguardian.com Articles

DC5m United States art in english 99 articles, created at 2016-12-18 06:07

1 /99 5.0 Henry Heimlich, inventor of life-saving maneuver, dies at 96 (8.52/9) WASHINGTON, United States — Henry Heimlich, the doctor who gave his name to a famous technique that saved the lives of countless choking victims, has died aged 96, news media reported Saturday.

Heimlich, a thoracic surgeon, died at a nursing home in Cincinnati, Ohio following a heart attack.

The “Heimlich maneuver,” which he invented in 1974 after seeing people choke — and some die — in restaurants, is thought to have saved tens of thousands of lives.

To perform it, a person stands behind the choking victim and applies pressure to the lower diaphragm with his or her hands. Compressing the air in the lungs in this fashion can force the foreign object out of the trachea.

The many people whose lives have thus been saved include former president Ronald Reagan and the actresses Marlene Dietrich and Elizabeth Taylor.

Heimlich himself had employed the maneuver a few months ago to save the life of a fellow retiree at his nursing home, an 87-year-old woman.

But he was also the center of controversy more than once. Heimlich had advocated the use of the maneuver for other purposes — to save drowning victims or to help asthma sufferers — that never gained a following.

And in his later years, he had advocated exposing AIDS victims to malaria, a treatable disease, to boost their resistance. CBB

Henry Heimlich, 1920-2016: Henry Heimlich, namesake Henry Heimlich, Life-Saving US doctor Henry Heimlich, Surgeon created life-saving of life-saving maneuver, dies Maneuver Creator, Dies inventor of first aid choking maneuver at 96 At 96 procedure, dies at 96 presstelegram.com pressherald.com chicago.cbslocal.com article.wn.com Henry Heimlich, life-saving Henry Heimlich, Heimlich Henry Heimlich, inventor of Surgeon who devised the maneuver creator, dead at maneuver inventor, dies at Heimlich maneuver, dies life-saving Heimlich 96, family says 96 at 96 manoeuvre for choking cbsnews.com cnn.com myfox8.com victims dies aged 96 dailymail.co.uk

2016-12-18 00:00 Agence France newsinfo.inquirer.net

2 /99 0.9 'I think John defined what it meant to be an American': Emotional Joe Biden gives heartfelt tribute to space hero in front of thousands of mourners during a memorial ceremony (2.08/9) Vice President Joe Biden and US Marine Corps General John Dailey were among the thousands of dignitaries, family members and other mourners remembering the late space hero John Glenn during a memorial tribute on Saturday. Roughly 2,500 people gathered at Mershon Auditorium on the Ohio State University campus for 'a celebration of life' for the former fighter pilot, history- making astronaut and longtime Democratic US senator from small-town Ohio. He was remembered not only for bravery, but for his thoughtful consideration for others, his integrity and his optimism. 'I think John defined what it meant to be an American,' Biden said. 'The thing I liked most about John was that he knew from his upbringing that ordinary Americans could do extraordinary things.' Retired Gen Dailey said Glenn will be missed, and never forgotten. 'We had John for 95 great years and it still wasn't enough,' Dailey said. Glenn died December 8 at age 95. He was the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962, and then in 1998 became the oldest person in space at 77. His wife, Annie Glenn, sat in the audience as she listened to the heartfelt words of Biden and her children as they talked about the life and achievements of her husband. Ethel Kennedy, widow of close Glenn ally Robert F. Kennedy, and their son Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were among the mourners present, along with Ohio political leaders including Gov. John Kasich and former Govs. Ted Strickland and Richard Celeste. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Jr said the US space program is 'standing on John Glenn's shoulders' with its current mission to Mars. 'It was courage, grace and humility John displayed throughout his life that lifted him above the stars,' Bolden said. He said Glenn 'always represented the best of our American ideals.' Bagpipes played as Glenn's flag-draped coffin was brought into the auditorium after a procession from the Ohio Statehouse. The service was preceded by a musical medley that included hymns, arias and popular songs. Some — including Nat King Cole's 'Smile' and Susan Boyle's version of 'Impossible Dream' — nodded to Glenn's optimism. Others, including You Are My Sunshine, Moon River' and Shirley Jones singing 'Goodnight, My Someone' — recalled Glenn's long love affair with wife, Annie, who survives him and attended the services with their children. Thousands of visitors, including Democratic US Secretary of State John Kerry, visited the Ohio Statehouse on Friday to pay their respects as Glenn lay in honor. He will be buried in a private ceremony this spring at Arlington Cemetery near Washington, DC.

Mourners pack auditorium Joe Biden joins thousands of for John Glenn's life mourners at Ohio funeral for celebration John Glenn nola.com feeds.nydailynews.com

2016-12-17 20:12 Dailymail.com www.dailymail.co.uk

3 /99 0.3 Trump calls his supporters 'violent' and 'vicious'

(1.06/9) President-elect Donald Trump has taken to the stage at his penultimate "Thank You" tour stop in Orlando Florida, thanking his "violent" and "vicious" supporters, urging them to "be cool" after his Presidential election victory. ...

Trump thanks his 'vicious, violent' supporters in Orlando article.wn.com

Donald Trump says supporters after US election 'mellowed' bbc.co.uk

2016-12-17 21:40 system article.wn.com

4 /99 4 /99 3.0 Crashes cause injuries, I-15 delays near Cove Fort

(1.03/9) COVE FORT, Millard County — A multiple-car crash involving a snow plow, a semitrailer and several other vehicles backed up traffic to a standstill about six miles north of Cove Fort on Saturday.

Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Jacob Cox said a minor crash involving a snow plow and a passenger car occurred around 1 p.m. on northbound I-15, slowing down traffic as both vehicles moved to the side of the road.

Then, Cox said a semitrailer driver appeared to not see the traffic slow down and crashed into a pickup truck. There have been reports that the truck launched into the air and landed on top of a car, he said.

No fatalities were reported, but Cox said there are very serious injuries reported. Medical helicopters were dispatched to the scene.

Troopers warned that traffic delays should be expected for several hours.

More information will be posted as it becomes available.

6 hospitalized in multi- Pregnant woman in critical vehicle crash near Cove condition, 5 others injured in Fort crash on I-15 deseretnews.com fox13now.com

2016-12-17 18:18 Katie McKellar www.deseretnews.com

5 /99 1.1 The empty days of South Korea's impeached president

(1.02/9) South Korea's presidential Blue House has been something of a family home for Park Geun- Hye, but the luxury residence has now become a place of solitary confinement for the impeached, isolated leader. Park has twice called the Blue House home: first as the daughter of late military strongman Park Chung-Hee and then as president herself -- a cumulative period of 20 years. Currently president in nothing but name and with no official duties to perform, Park faces a months-long empty schedule within the walls of the complex as she waits for the final act of her impeachment drama to play out. The only regular encroachment from outside is the deafening chanting of hundreds of thousands of protestors who have taken to the streets of Seoul every Saturday for the past two months to demand Park either resign or be removed. Ensnared by a corruption scandal involving an old friend, Park was impeached by parliament just over a week ago -- a move that stripped away all her substantial presidential powers and transferred them to her prime minister. She is allowed to retain her title and stay at the Blue House while the Constitutional Court considers whether to validate the impeachment -- a process that could take up to six months. - Restricted movement - But her movements are restricted to the residential part of the 250,000-square-metre (62-acre) compound. Her offices, some 200 metres from her living quarters, are off limits. A planned trilateral summit with the leaders of China and Japan that was supposed to be held this month in Tokyo has been indefinitely postponed. Aides say Park spends her time resting and preparing her impeachment defence for the court, but otherwise there are scant details about her activities. "She must feel like the whole world has turned its back on her," said Lee Jun-Han, a politics professor at Incheon University. "I don't think she has the luxury of travelling outside the Blue House, or even resting in peace at home," Lee said. Park's father Park Chung-Hee ruled the country with an iron fist from 1961-79 and his eldest child enjoyed a pampered life, although in her memoirs she described her early days at the Blue House as "prison-like". She never married and has no children, and critics say her sheltered upbringing left Park aloof and out of touch. - 'Lonely life' - In a televised apology she gave in early November as the corruption scandal snowballed, Park spoke of her "lonely life" as president and how it had led her to place too much trust in her long- time confidante, Choi Soon-Sil. Park's impeachment focused on charges that she colluded with Choi in forcing a number of South Korean conglomerates to donate tens of millions of dollars to two dubious non-profit foundations that Choi controlled and allegedly plundered. Park acknowledged letting her guard down with Choi, who had helped her through "difficult times" as a single female president who had lost both her parents to assassins and was estranged from her siblings. In testimony to an ongoing parliamentary investigation into the Choi scandal, Park's aides cemented the image of her as a solitary figure who liked eating alone. One former chief of staff who served Park for two years said he had often gone an entire week without meeting her at all -- an experience echoed by other senior policy advisors. "Park was almost always in her residence, whether on Sundays or a weekday, unless there were public events like a cabinet meeting or a meeting with advisors," a former presidential chef said in a recent interview. Park's staffers now report to the prime minister -- and acting president -- Hwang Kyo-Ahn, who is expected to give the annual year-end national presidential address. For the Blue House press corps, Park's blank days have left them with similarly blank notebooks. "The number of reporters in the pressroom has shrunk a lot -- maybe only a third are showing up," said the correspondent of one national newspaper who spoke on condition of anonymity. "There are no more regular briefings by the spokesman. He only comes to the pressroom when there's a particular issue regarding the president," the correspondent said. South Korea protests put pressure on impeachment court article.wn.com

2016-12-17 22:41 Afp www.dailymail.co.uk

6 /99 1.4 Thin Film Semiconductor Deposition Market by Deposition Technology, Industry Vertical (1.02/9) 20:21 ET

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2016-12-17 21:11 ReportBuyer www.prnewswire.com

7 /99 4.0 'Passengers' actor Michael Sheen considers quitting acting for politics in wake of Trump's election (1.02/9) LONDON - Michael Sheen is an in-demand, critically acclaimed actor, but he's apparently considering quitting entertainment to help fight what he sees as a rise in dangerous politics around the world. Britain's "The Times" magazine reported that the 47-year-old British actor wants to quit his craft to focus on grassroots politics. The publication stated he wants to fight "the rise of far-right populism" and "demagogues and fascists. "

“In the same way as the Nazis had to be stopped in Germany in the [1930s], this thing that is on the rise has to be stopped,” he reportedly told the magazine.

Shortly after the story was published, Sheen appeared to back away from it a bit on social media. "I'm thinking I might start acting less and maybe even stop for a while at some point but don't know yet," Sheen posted on Twitter Saturday.

"The Times" reported that Sheen told them he would completely stop acting to focus on politics. It reported he was first inspired to get into politics in 2011 but was further spurred this year after his hometown in England voted in favor of Brexit, Britain's move out of the European Union.

Sheen's social media posts are often political in nature. On Saturday, he tweeted a quote about freedom attributed to former U. S. President Ronald Reagan.

The Brexit vote made him feel "sad and frustrated," according to the magazine, but America's election of Donald Trump gave him "massive urgency" to consider changing fields.

Sheen is an acclaimed actor on stage and on screen. He's a co-star of the upcoming sci-fi blockbuster "Passengers. " He's been nominated for Golden Globe and Emmy Awards. He's perhaps best known for his role in Showtime's series "Masters of Sex," as well as his turns in movies like the "Twilight" series and "Frost/Nixon. "

Clint Davis covers entertainment and trending news topics for the Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @MrClintDavis.

Emmy nominee quitting acting for politics article.wn.com

2016-12-17 18:47 Clint Davis www.wxyz.com

8 /99 1.4 Bradley has no intention of considering position at Swansea despite Boro loss (1.02/9) Under-pressure Swansea boss Bob Bradley insists he has no intention of considering his position despite a 3-0 defeat at Middlesbrough which will leave his side second bottom of the Premier League at Christmas.

Two first-half goals from Alvaro Negredo and a 58th minute effort from Marten de Roon boosted Boro's own survival chances and left Swansea reeling from a second straight defeat after Wednesday's 3-1 loss at The Hawthorns.

Some among Swansea's small travelling contingent made their anger plain towards the end of the game but American Bradley is adamant two upcoming home games give him the chance to turn his side's season around.

Bradley said: "I go in motivated every day and I've said many times I like the group of players, I love the club and now it's a challenge. When I came here I knew what I was getting into and I'm not backing down from it now.

"That's the challenge - when the team has put itself in a tough spot everybody has got to stick together during the toughest times and fight the fight.

"I put pressure on myself to see if we can make the team stronger and fight for points every week, and I will continue to do that. "

Bradley was particularly disappointed that his side failed to heed his call for resilience in the wake of their defeat on Wednesday.

Despite a bright start in which Modou Barrow and Gylfi Sigurdsson both missed chances, Negredo's swinging opener changed the momentum and from then on there seemed little chance of a Swansea recovery.

Bradley added: " We obviously have to look at ourselves and it's the same story - we started okay, we felt the energy and confidence but on their first real look at goal we went down.

"We talked about our ability to hold things together, but their second goal came after a strange mix-up over whose throw it was, the next thing it's a penalty and we've put ourselves in a big hole.

"For the first time today we didn't take care of business against a team that is right around us in the table. Now we've got to look at our next two home matches because winning home matches in this battle is going to be the real key. "

Boro boss Aitor Karanka pronounced himself far from pleased with his side's performance but admitted the three points could prove vital in their ongoing survival fight.

Karanka said: "Until we scored the first goal I was really upset (with the performance) but sometimes you have to understand the players and for them it was a game with a lot of pressure. "It was really difficult at the beginning of the game but after the game it has been a massive win against a direct opponent. The main thing is to have the points on the table.

"There are some games we will win playing not as good as we would like to play, and some we will lose playing our best, because we are in the Premier League and every single point is difficult. "

Karanka dedicated his side's win to goalkeeping coach Leo Percovich, who will require an operation next week after snapping his Achilles at the club's training ground on Friday.

Karanka added: "Leo has been very important because you have seen him on the bench and he is a character in the changing room. The players know how big and important Leo is, and I know he will be at home cheering for us. "

Bradley demands unity in Swansea fight against the drop dailymail.co.uk

2016-12-17 18:26 Press Association www.independent.ie

9 /99 2.9 The Latest: Freezing rain, snow create headaches in Missouri (1.00/9) The Latest on severe winter weather impacting parts of the United States (all times local): 5:30 p.m. Freezing rain, freezing drizzle and snow created slick roads, traffic headaches and numerous...

The Latest: Tornado watch in parts of 6 Mid-South states article.wn.com

2016-12-17 20:51 system article.wn.com

10 /99 3.8 iVision’s Automated Alert Response System Boosts Business Continuity, Reduces Risk (1.00/9) ATLANTA , Dec. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- iVision has unveiled an Automated Alert Response System (AARS) that helps gather technical details and self-heal a customer's managed environments in near real-time, enabling them to respond quickly, ensure business continuity and lower risk.

AARS' automated "smart" alerts not only advise of system interruptions, but also detail problems and offer actionable information on how to resolve them. For example, within minutes of a server outage, the IT team receives an alert that pinpoints the malfunctioning equipment and describes the systemic effect, giving IT leaders and engineers the information they need to solve the problem quickly.

AARS will begin rolling out to iVision's largest Engineering & Support Services (ESS) clients December of 2016. All ESS clients will have the functionality early next year. The alert system will be a value-add, meaning clients will receive the benefits with no additional fees.

"Our new Automated Alert Response System is the latest example of iVision's mission to use automation to decrease system downtime and increase operational efficiency for our clients," said Chief Technology Officer, Eric Aslaksen .

"AARS has the same flexibility we offer in all iVision managed services," explained Tom Lasswell , Director of Engineering & Support Services. "It can be customized to fit a client's particular infrastructure and business needs. It's a natural evolution of Engineering & Support Services' programmable infrastructure offerings – a perfect example of Infrastructure-as-Code. iVision's Engineering & Support Services give clients access to iVision's core strength – certified engineering talent that can support critical IT infrastructure 24x7x365. ESS' customized managed services and enterprise monitoring of equipment and applications enable clients' IT teams to focus on driving business goals, instead of maintaining infrastructure.

About iVision: iVision is an Atlanta -based, privately held technology integration and management firm. We engineer success for clients through objective recommendations, technology and process expertise and best-of-breed guidance. Our infrastructure and application solutions are organized into Business Services, Technology Services and Operations & Support. At iVision, we work with clients to architect, transform and support their technology — enabling them to realize their vision of a better tomorrow. Learn more about our company at ivision.com and get details about our commitment to employee growth at ivision.com/company/careers .

Media Contact: Mark Argyle Phone: 678.244.3215 Email: [email protected]

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com/ .

SOURCE iVision Big Data, XaaS and IoT Transforming Manufacturing Automation (TechVision) prnewswire.com

2016-12-17 19:07 iVision www.prnewswire.com

11 /99 (0.07/9) 3.0 2016 Women of the Year: Leading ladies Melissa McCarthy, 46, Leslie Jones, 49, Kristen Wiig, 43, and Kate McKinnon, 32, featured in the all-female reboot of Ghostbusters. Director Paul Feig said, ‘The best way to do it was with the funniest women I know. Heroes are heroes. It doesn’t matter what gender they are.’

2016 Women of the Year: Power players dailymail.co.uk

2016 Women of the Year: 2016 Women of the Year: 2016 Women of the Year: 2016 Women of the Year: On screen, off screen The Trumps We salute fabulous females Pop stars dailymail.co.uk dailymail.co.uk in every field dailymail.co.uk dailymail.co.uk

2016 Women of the Year: 2016 Women of the Year: Golden girls Royals dailymail.co.uk dailymail.co.uk

2016-12-17 20:02 Miranda Thompson www.dailymail.co.uk

12 /99 6.7 Jamie Oliver's puddings of comfort & joy: Arctic roll

(0.05/9) ARCTIC ROLL BLACK FOREST STYLEE WITH CHOCOLATE SPONGE, KIRSCH & CHERRIES Here’s a wonderful Germanic nod to the classic Arctic roll of my childhood. It’s easy to make, even weeks before you need it, always fun and dramatic to tuck into, and great for feeding a crowd. Stick a sparkler in it and you’re winning. SERVES 10-12 1 HOUR 15 MINUTES PLUS FREEZING SPONGE unsalted butter, for greasing 3 large free range eggs 100g golden caster sugar, plus extra for dusting 75g plain flour 25g quality cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting FILLING & TOPPING 500g quality chocolate ice cream 1 clementine kirsch ½ x 340g jar of quality black cherry jam 50g blanched hazelnuts 100ml double cream 100g Greek yoghurt 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste 1 tablespoon icing sugar ● Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. For the sponge, grease a baking tray (25cm x 38cm) with butter, line the bottom and sides with greaseproof paper, then lightly grease the paper. By hand or with an electric mixer, beat the eggs and golden caster sugar until pale, thick and creamy. Sift in half the flour and cocoa, very gently fold them in using a large metal spoon, then repeat with the rest. Pour the mixture into your prepared tin and spread out evenly. Bake for 10 minutes, or until springy to the touch. Meanwhile, soften your ice cream in the fridge. ● Place a large sheet of greaseproof paper on top of a clean damp tea towel and evenly sprinkle over a thin layer of golden caster sugar from a height. While it’s still hot and flexible, turn the sponge out on to the paper. Peel off and discard the baked piece of greaseproof. With one of the shortest sides in front of you, fold up the excess paper, then roll up the sponge with the paper inside (as it cools this will set the shape but prevent the sponge from cracking). Leave to cool. ● For the fillings, finely grate the clementine zest into a bowl, squeeze in the juice, add a splash of kirsch and the jam and mix well. Toast the hazelnuts in a dry pan until golden, then bash until fine. Whip the cream to soft peaks, then fold in the yoghurt, vanilla and sifted icing sugar. To assemble, unroll the sponge so it’s flat, removing the paper. Drizzle with kirsch, cover with a layer of cream, then dot over half the jam filling. Rustically spoon over the softened ice cream, leaving a 5cm gap at one of the shorter ends, then dot over most of the remaining jam filling and most of the nuts. Carefully re-roll – if the filling starts to slip out, just push it back in. Wrap well in greaseproof and freeze overnight, or until needed. ● Get your Arctic roll out of the freezer and into the fridge 30 minutes before you’re ready to serve. Carefully trim the ends to give you nice edges, then brush over the remaining jam filling, dust with cocoa, and scatter over the remaining nuts. I like to decorate it with shavings of dark chocolate, fresh cherries and gold leaf, too! NUTRITION PER SERVING 322 kcal; 17g fat (8.6g saturated); 6g protein; 37g carbs; 31.4.g sugars; 0.1g salt; 0.7g fibre. Jamie Oliver's puddings of Jamie Oliver's puddings of Jamie Oliver's puddings of Food: Jamie Oliver's comfort & joy: Tiramisù comfort & joy: Mince pie comfort & joy: Christmas puddings of comfort & joy dailymail.co.uk strudels sundaes dailymail.co.uk dailymail.co.uk dailymail.co.uk

Jamie Oliver's puddings of comfort & joy: The jaffa cake dailymail.co.uk

2016-12-17 20:03 Jamie Oliver www.dailymail.co.uk

13 /99 2.7 Your daily dose of spiritual inspiration Contact WND

(0.04/9) If I say, “My foot slips,” Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up. In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.

Psalm 94:18-19

You're not from around 'Harbinger Man:' Only God Looking at life Contact WND these parts, are you? can make America great wnd.com Contact WND again Contact WND wnd.com wnd.com

2016-12-17 22:29 www.wnd.com

14 /99 0.0 Trump's 'shifty and vague' stance on 1 top immigration issue Contact WND (0.02/9) Many of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet selections are getting strong reviews from grassroots activists and traditional Republicans, but a leading immigration expert says Trump’s choice to head the Department of Labor could be a threat to American jobs.

Fast-food titan Andrew Puzder, the chief executive of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., is a problem across the board on immigration, according to Center for Immigration Studies Executive Director Mark Krikorian.

Kirkorian says his biggest concern with a Puzder-led Labor Department is the influx of legal immigrants who could put American citizens out of work.

“The primary problem is you have to get the OK from the Labor Department before you can bring in one of these people on worker visas. There’s something like three quarters of a million people we bring in. These are people who are often directly replacing American workers,” Krikorian told WND.

“We saw this at Disney about a year-and-a-half ago. We just saw it with Carnival Cruise Lines, I think just this week. They fired their American workers, usually their IT workforce. They bring in foreign workers on visas that have been OK’d by the Labor Department. And then (the American workers) are forced to train their replacements,” said Krikorian.

While that does happen with some frequency, Krikorian says the big picture is murkier and there are no hard numbers on how many Americans lose their jobs to legal immigrants.

Ann Coulter’s back, and she’s never been better than in “Adios, America!: The Left’s Plan to Turn our Country into a Third World Hellhole.”

“It’s never a one-to-one thing. You can’t say that one immigrant worker comes in and that means one fewer job for an American. The economy doesn’t really work that way,” said Krikorian. “There’s no way to say this guy lost his job because of that guy. It doesn’t work that way.”

However, Krikorian says it is clear which Americans are most at risk of losing their jobs through the importing of foreign workers.

“At the bottom of the labor market, and that means less-skilled workers and that means teenagers looking for work and others – people who get out of prison and want to clean up their act,” said Krikorian. “Anybody who’s getting on to the first rung of the job ladder. Those people are hurt by ongoing immigration,” he said.

So where does Puzder fit into all this? Krikorian says Puzder has long been an outspoken proponent of bringing in foreign workers.

“Andy Puzder has for years shown himself to be a big fan of importing more and more and more and more foreign guest workers to compete with Americans,” said Krikorian.

He also sees Puzder as being on the wrong side of the most recent congressional fight over immigration reform.

“[Puzder supported] that Gang of Eight bill from a few years ago that would have amnestied illegal aliens – the one Rubio and Schumer and Obama were pushing. It would have amnestied illegal aliens, would have hugely increased legal immigration, almost doubled it, and supposedly would have enforced the law better at some point down the road,” said Krikorian.

He says Puzder also weighed in on immigration policy during the 2016 campaign.

“Just last year he made a press statement with several other people, calling on the Republican primary candidates to support so-called comprehensive immigration reform, in other words Obama’s immigration agenda,” said Krikorian. In response to criticism of Puzder’s previous immigration pronouncements, the Trump transition is trying to assure skeptics they have nothing to worry about.

“A statement was issued under his name, which I think was pretty clearly written by the campaign, that said he would be tough in protecting American workers and that sort of thing. Maybe. I’m skeptical because his whole life has actually been the opposite so why would we believe in this sudden change,” said Krikorian.

Krikorian says Trump’s vision on legal immigration has always been a bit fuzzy but that the president-elect has made several strong promises.

“He’s always been kind of shifty on this and vague, but he has been very clear that these visa programs must never be used to replace American workers. And the law allows that now,” said Krikorian.

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Other members of Trump’s cabinet who will deal directly with immigration issues are getting rave reviews, especially Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the nominee for attorney general.

“Jeff Sessions is a top pick. He has the potential to be the best attorney general in American history. I have great respect for Jeff Sessions. I think he’s going to be great across the board at the Justice Department, both immigration stuff and everything else,” said Krikorian.

Retired U. S. Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly is Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security. Krikorian says Kelly is a well-known “border hawk” but isn’t sure how he will approach concerns over legal immigrants overstaying their visas or making sure businesses do not hire people in the U. S. illegally.

“I don’t have any reason to think he’ll be bad on that but he doesn’t have any experience on it so we’re going to have to wait and see how he does,” said Krikorian.

Krikorian admits Puzder will likely be confirmed by the Senate. It’s only then that America will find out if his new assurances or his old positions carry the day.

“Supposedly he’s seen the light,” said Krikorian. “We’ll have to see whether that’s true or not.”

'Sink or swim' time for EPA Trump builds team of under President Trump bosses to shake up Contact WND Washington Contact WND wnd.com wnd.com

2016-12-17 20:44 Greg Corombos www.wnd.com

15 /99 15 /99 0.3 Themes of 2016: is democracy itself threatened by tech disruption? (0.02/9) I n 2009, in what future generations may see as the high-water mark of the ideology known as “techno- utopianism”, which may at some point be rebranded as “techno-delusionism”, Gordon Brown stepped on to the TED stage. The Silicon Valley thinkfest had come to Britain and he was there to talk about politics, technology and what he called “the creation of a truly global society”.

He had a powerful message to deliver. “The power of our moral sense, allied to the power of communications,” he said, along with “our ability to organise internationally”, would enable us “to fundamentally change the world”. This was a politician telling a tech crowd what it wanted to hear and what he wanted to believe. What we all wanted to believe. Brown’s thesis was this: people are essentially good. We have feeling for our fellow man and technology would be the enabler of more goodness. It would harness the very best of us.

It’s not that Brown was particularly naive or deluded. We all believed it then, didn’t we? 2009 was the year of Iran’s “Facebook revolution” although it was sometimes called the “YouTube Revolution”, not to be confused with several later “Twitter revolutions”. He was talking about technologies created by the kind of liberal progressives who wore jeans and statement specs and were bold enough to give their companies jokey mission statements such as “Don’t be evil”. There was another voice at that same TED conference, a young, then unknown, Belarusian academic – Evgeny Morozov. He had a different message. Authoritarian regimes, he said, can and did use technology for their purposes, too. Technology and freedom were not obliged to go together. And if you were born in Belarus, you’d smell the bullshit a mile off.

Cut to last week and the spectacle of the masters of the technoverse trooping into Donald Trump’s golden lift. Trump’s words at his “tech summit” were extensively reported, but you need to watch the C-Span video to see the introductions. “Chuck Robbins, Cisco. Excited to be here and want to help.” “Eric Schmidt, Alphabet and Google and completely agree with what’s been said.” “Jeff Bezos, Amazon, super-excited about the possibilities for innovations in this space.” “Larry Page, Alphabet and Google, the youngest company here. Really glad to be here.”

The most powerful companies on Earth are “super-excited” to be working or – as you might say, collaborating – with Trump. In Silicon Valley, companies talk about “pivoting”. But Silicon Valley isn’t pivoting. Its multibillion dollar corporations are doing what they’ve always done, what Trump has always done: making money. It’s we who are pivoting. We the people and our democratic systems and relationship to power.

This is what technology has done. Foreign policy, Gordon Brown noted, “can never be the same again”. That much is true. Because 2016 has taught us that technology has changed not just foreign policy forever, but politics forever, elections forever. Last week’s report by the CIA that the Russian government did subvert the American election has proved that.

America’s use of the CIA to subvert foreign elections has come back to bite it. But it goes far, far beyond that. Democracy itself has been “disrupted”. The question is what happens next, whether we take it, in a prone position, craven and beholden to our new kings: Google and Facebook. Because how can a free and fair election ever be possible again when anyone’s emails can be stolen and leaked , or taken down as evidence and used against them? “Give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man,” said Cardinal Richlieu a long time before Hillary Clinton was born. “And I will find something in them which will hang him.”

There is no privacy, no security. That era is over. Hackers can and will find a way. The German election could be next , its security chief warned last week. What about our own democratic process in this year’s referendum? Here’s what we know about what influenced it. What people saw and read online. How they may or not have been manipulated and controlled through lies and half-lies and not-quite truths: nothing.

We know that the Leave campaign employed the same London-based data research firm as the Trump campaign, Cambridge Analytica, whose CEO is Steve Bannon, founder of Breitbart news and chief strategist to Donald Trump. But we have no record of the vast amount of data it vacuumed up – the 5,000 data points it said it gathers on millions of people, things like what you ate for dinner and where your friends live. Nor do we know what it did with that data, the political messaging it showed people, the 50,000 variants of adverts Cambridge Analytica showed to 50,000 people during the Leave campaign. That’s gone. There’s no record. It wasn’t – couldn’t be – captured. It can’t be studied. We’ll never know.

According to Martin Moore, director of the Centre for the Study of Media, Communication and Power at King’s College, London, Cambridge Analytica found a way “of transgressing 150 years of legislation that we’ve developed to make elections fair and open”.

That’s gone, as are facts and universally agreed notions of truth. The Holocaust? It’s a matter of debate. Facebook’s fake news problem is just one facet of a vast ecosystem of false information. An ecosystem that resembles a living organism, that Jonathan Albright, assistant professor of communications at Elon University, North Caroline, says is growing vaster and stronger every day. Like cancer.

What we do next is down to us, of course. Last Monday, as Aleppo bled, the top story on the Guardian ’s website was a review of Apple’s new Macbook Pro. No one knows what happens next. Except perhaps this: we will have our devices with us when the darkness falls.

Themes of 2016: across Themes of 2016: technology continents, autocrats take puts millions of jobs in control jeopardy theguardian.com theguardian.com

2016-12-17 20:05 Carole Cadwalladr www.theguardian.com

16 /99 16 /99 2.2 Supernatural: Gospel preached in synagogue Contact WND (0.02/9) It’s another sign of revival and, to some believers, nothing less than evidence God is moving in the Holy Land as the End Times near.

Messianic Jewish leader Zev Porat, head of Messiah of Israel Ministries, recently succeeded in preaching the Gospel at a synagogue in Israel. In conversations with the cantor and the rabbi of the synagogue, Porat shocked the Jewish believers with his scriptural proofs that Yeshua, Jesus Christ, was the supreme sacrifice that allowed the Law to be fulfilled.

Naturally, both the cantor and the rabbi reacted with surprise and some anger, because as Jews they do not believe Jesus is the Messiah. However, Porat drew their attention when he referenced Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, one of Israel’s most revered scriptural authorities. When both the cantor and the rabbi said they would believe what Rabbi Kaduri believed, Porat amazed them again by showing them the “The Rabbi Who Found Messiah,” which details the remarkable story of how the legendary Jewish teacher may have discovered Yeshua really was the Messiah.

The consequences of Porat’s testimony in the synagogue are still playing out.

“Ever since my visit in the synagogue that day, Cantor Ron Labovitz and I continue to have conversations on the phone concerning the biblical evidence of Yeshua as Messiah,” Porat told WND. “Cantor Ron Labovitz told me that many who heard the Gospel in the synagogue during that ministry encounter are continually questioning him and Rabbi Abraham Zinger about those things we were able to share and reveal.”

Porat said the abbi’s students “are fascinated by Kaduri’s revelation and also by the Bible verses I was able to study with them in the synagogue.”

“Canter Ron says they only want to talk about what they heard about the Kaduri Messiah- revelation instead of studying the Talmud rabbinic books,” Porat said. “The seed was planted. The soil is fertile. The fruit is promising.”

According to Porat, Labovitz said Zinger regrets letting Porat enter the synagogue, calling him a “troublemaker.”

“I am honored, to the glory of Yeshua to be called a troublemaker for the Kingdom’s sake,” Porat said. “What is amazing and supernatural to me, is the fact that cantor has not surrendered his life to Yeshua yet, but he is encouraging the continued conversations in the synagogue. I believe this to be a part of a number of stunning End Time occurrences.”

Since Rabbi Kaduri’s death and the revelation of his mysterious last message hinting at Yeshua being the Jewish Messiah, an increasing number of Jews in Israel have come to faith in Jesus Christ. “The Rabbi Who Found Messiah” has served as a valuable tool of ministry in the revival, according to Porat.

The remarkable TRUE story of how one of Israel’s most revered spiritual teachers found the answer to an ancient mystery. Learn the facts about the most exciting spiritual development in the Holy Land today. “The Rabbi Who Found Messiah” by Carl Gallups, available now in the WND Superstore. “Orthodox Jews in Israel continue to be fascinated by the revelations set forth in the book ‘The Rabbi Who Found Messiah’ , written by Pastor Carl Gallups,” claimed Porat.

“I sincerely believe God chose Rabbi Kaduri to be greatly used to impact the End Times’ ingathering of his people, the Jews, as stated in Romans 11:26. I also believe that Yeshua Ha Mashiach selected Pastor Gallups to be the one to powerfully reveal the Kaduri declaration to the Jews in Israel, in written and visual format. He does this in an investigative manner – a style that often proves to be very convincing to the inquisitive Jewish mind.”

Gallups, a former law enforcement officer who now is a radio host and pastor of Hickory Hammock Baptist Church in Milton, Florida, agrees with Porat that the growing acceptance of Jesus Christ as Messiah among Jews is a sign of the Last Days.

“As I point out in a couple chapters in my latest book, ‘When the Lion Roars,’ there is an unprecedented and growing movement among the Jewish population in general of a turning toward Yeshua as Messiah,” Gallups told WND. “That relatively recent phenomenon not only applies to Jews coming to Christ around the world, but also and specifically in Israel. There are more messianic congregations in Israel now than ever before, and their numbers are increasing.”

Gallups claims the growth of Messianic Judaism may be underestimated because many Jews keep their new beliefs secret to avoid persecution.

“I have several contacts inside Israel that confirm that there are an increasing number of secret study rooms springing up, especially in the metropolitan areas of Israel, where Jewish people can go and participate in a guided study of the scriptural proof that Yeshua is the Messiah that they seek,” the pastor claimed. “Most of the Jews in Israel that have surrendered to Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah are still a bit hesitant to come forward fully with their new-found faith for fear of persecution and even rejection – often by their own family members and even employers.

“More often than not, for an orthodox Jew to profess Jesus as Messiah in Israel is no small matter. There are Jewish legal/social-action organizations that have formed inside Israel for the sole purpose of rooting out those Jews who are claiming that they have turned from Judaism to Jesus. They also actively pursue groups or individuals that are attempting to evangelize Jews in the name of Jesus. Zev has been routinely persecuted by such groups. I also have been targeted by some of these groups in Internet smear campaigns.”

Gallups emphasized the revival’s success is partially due to the late rabbi’s method of revealing the truth he discovered.

“I think Kaduri’s method of revealing his revelation, through a note posted on his website a year after his death written in coded format, was brilliant!” Gallups said. “It was divinely inspired, I believe. Because if he had simply declared that truth with his mouth, he would have been summarily dismissed as a crazy old man who had lost his mind at the very last.

“But by revealing the messianic truth to a select group of his students, and then announcing the fact that he was going to eventually post a note with the name of Messiah to the attendees of his synagogue services, only a few months before his death, he insured that his message would have to be taken seriously by all who had any spiritual discernment at all. And the results have been amazing – and continue to amaze.” Porat emphasized the Jewish nature of the revival and its organic roots within the Jewish tradition, including the tradition of his own family.

“I come from a family that has a heritage of rabbinical tradition,” he told WND. “My father was a rabbi, as well as his father, and his father’s father. My great-grandfather knew Rabbi Kaduri personally. This is why, as a man who was training to become a rabbi when I believed in Yeshua as Messiah, I am particularly overwhelmed that Yeshua has chosen me to be part of what is happening in Israel today, for the Kingdom’s sake.”

And the Messianic Jewish leader said his daily experiences are linked to overwhelming global changes that herald nothing less than the fulfillment of prophecy.

“As believers in Yeshua and the Word of God, we are watching prophetic events all over the world that possess profound prophetic overtones,” he said. “These include the rise of ISIS, the re-Islamization of Turkey, China and Russia heavily engaged in the Middle East with a powerful military presence, and in particular, the ongoing battles over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. On top of all these things, Jews and Arabs around the world are being saved like never before. We are now in the midst of unfolding prophecy, right before our eyes.”

The remarkable TRUE story of how one of Israel’s most revered spiritual teachers found the answer to an ancient mystery. Learn the facts about the most exciting spiritual development in the Holy Land today. “The Rabbi Who Found Messiah” by Carl Gallups, available now in the WND Superstore.

You're not from around 'Harbinger Man:' Only God these parts, are you? can make America great Contact WND again Contact WND wnd.com wnd.com

2016-12-17 19:38 www.wnd.com

17 /99 2.8 Kate Mara dons wintry ensemble for some Christmas shopping with beau Jamie Bell Kate has recently wrapped filming the movie Megan Leavey and has three other films in the can for release next year. Jamie has a break before starting work on season four of cable TV series TURN: Washington's Spies and has also finished two movies slated for 2017.

2016-12-17 23:48 Dailymail.com www.dailymail.co.uk

18 /99 3.2 Australia should be republic after Queen Elizabeth: PM Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has renewed his call for a republic, but only after Queen Elizabeth II's reign, as he outlined a road map for breaking away from the British monarchy. Turnbull -- a staunch republican who led the cause before a failed referendum in 1999 -- said his support for an Australian head of state stemmed from patriotism. "The cause of the Australian Republican Movement (ARM) is a cause for Australia," Turnbull said during a keynote address to the ARM on Saturday night. "We do not diminish or disrespect the patriotism of those who take a different view, but we have no other motive, no other reason than love of country. " The British crown's power in Australia is seen as largely symbolic, and while the Queen is hugely popular Down Under, the monarchy is viewed by some as an anachronistic colonial relic. Critics within Turnbull's own conservative Liberal Party earlier in the week said his support for a republic would be damaging to the government. But Turnbull said there was no appetite among Australians for another referendum during Queen Elizabeth's reign. "The less party political the republican movement is, the broader its base, the deeper its grassroots, the better positioned it will be when the issue becomes truly salient again," the Australian leader added. Opposition Labor leader Bill Shorten appeared to criticise Turnbull's lack of action on Twitter following the speech. "Climate change, marriage equality, housing affordability, now Republic too hard for Turnbull. Time for the PM to lead his party, not follow," Shorten tweeted. He also offered to "work together to deliver an Australian head of state". Support for a republic has wavered over the years, with a Fairfax- Nielsen poll in 2014 finding that 51 percent of the 1,400 people surveyed favoured the status quo compared to 42 percent supporting a republic. Turnbull said question marks about how an Australian head of state would be elected -- directly by the people or via a parliamentary appointment -- had weakened support for a republic during the 1999 referendum. He called for a two-stage voting process, with a plebiscite to determine the election model first before a referendum to decide on whether Australia should be a republic. "We need to ensure that the Australian people feel they have chosen the model to be presented," Turnbull said. "Of course every member of the parliament is elected, but we cannot be blind to the levels of cynicism about politics, parliaments and governments. If anything they are greater today than they were back in 1999. "

2016-12-17 23:45 Afp www.dailymail.co.uk

19 /99 19 /99 2.9 Why one woman chose to wear an ORANGE wedding gown When Aurora Remember Holtzman walked down the aisle, she did so in an orange dress. The beautiful gown was crocheted by her sister, and worked as a reminder that you shouldn't have to 'tone yourself down' in the name of maturity. 'My sister named the dress Aurora's Dawn,' Mrs Holtzman, 41, told Daily Mail. 'Aurora is the goddess of the dawn, and she saw the wedding as a new birth for me, a new life, a new marriage, a new everything.' As a child, orange was Mrs Holtzman's favourite colour. The Washington State resident's wardrobe was awash with colour, and to her prom, she wore a dress she made herself out of 10 different types of fabric. 'I had this idea for a patchwork prom dress,' she said. 'And it's funny, the people who would make comments about my clothes negatively, didn't. 'By the time I was in senior year we were moving in to the grunge alternative movement, and people started to appreciate those things a bit more.' But as she grew older Mrs Holtzman found she had toned herself, and her style, down in the 'name of maturity'. 'I didn't wear orange as much, I didn't wear bright clothes,' she said. 'In my high school days I went out of my way to stand out, and so I thought as a sign of maturity, I shouldn't go out of my way to stand out in a crowd.' But she soon found there could be a happy medium. After her first marriage ended she went to visit a friend in Seattle, and wore an orange dress. 'She said "you've got your orange back",' Mrs Holtzman said. 'I have a tonne of clothes now I'm gradually reintroducing, things that are a little more unique.' Among them is her wedding dress. Mrs Holtzman was married at Fallen Leaf Lake Park in Camas, Washington, her gown bright against the soft green of the grass. The hand-made crochet dress was designed by her sister, Laurinda Reddig of ReCrochetions , who took three months to piece it together. 'It's kind of a universal story for everyone,' Mrs Holtzman said of her gown. 'We all tone ourselves down as we go in to adulthood, but the lucky ones reconnect with their roots. 'It doesn't mean necessarily we're the same as we were when younger.' Mrs Holzman shared her story with The Huffington Post , where she said: 'Accepting myself fully opened me up to find someone who could fully accept me in return'. 'As long as I tried to be an apple, I would never find another orange.' You can read more from Aurora Remember Holtzman on her Facebook page or website .

2016-12-17 23:39 Lauren Grounsell www.dailymail.co.uk

20 /99 3.8 Tigerair Australia cancels domestic flights before Christmas Tigerair has cancelled flights in the lead up to Christmas leaving thousands of customers rescheduling their plans. About 4,000 domestic bookings on the budget airlines had to be rescheduled, including their most popular route - Sydney to Melbourne. The flight cancellations were made after Tigerair's application to add a fourth Boeing 737 to their fleet was not approved by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority in time. These changes have impacted bookings until December 31. Daily Mail Australia understands that it was not about the regulator not approving the aircraft but rather due to a delay in the process which is not uncommon in the industry. 'The key is that we have regular flights, everyone has been moved onto same day services the majority within two hours of the original scheduled departure time to minimize any inconvenience for our customers,' she said. A CASA spokesman told Daily Mail Australia that is working through the safety checks for the introduction of the 737s to the Tiger fleet. 'This is a process is a lengthy and detailed process with many safety checks. until all the safety checks are completed the aircraft can't enter service.' 'CASA is working with tiger to complete the process as soon as possible, but all safety checks must be completed,' he added. The budget airline contacted customers about the changes and provided them alternative same day flights free of charge in early December. They hope the fourth plane will be operational by next year, the Herald Sun reported. The budget air carrier is replacing their current fleet of Airbus A320 planes to Boeing 737s.

2016-12-17 23:38 Alisha Buaya www.dailymail.co.uk

21 /99 0.5 A Hollywood star says he may give up acting to focus on political activism Michael Sheen has spent enough time playing a politician. Now he’s going to become one.

Or at the very least, the Welsh actor plans to become a political activist and put his acting career on hold, perhaps permanently.

That’s what he told The Times of London in an interview published Saturday. According to journalist Ben Hoyle, Sheen, who has portrayed British politician Tony Blair and political journalist David Frost in the past, says he has no upcoming acting projects and plans to return to his hometown in Wales, Port Talbot, which voted to leave the European Union in the recent “Brexit” vote, according to the BBC.

Sheen, who described himself as a news junkie in the interview, compared the rise of the “hard populist right” to Nazism and white supremacy.

“In the same way as the Nazis had to be stopped in Germany in the ‘30s, this thing that is on the rise has to be stopped,” he said.

Sheen’s career has been on the rise in recent years, as he has garnered Emmy, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations since 2010 and critical acclaim for his role as Dr. William Masters in “Masters of Sex.” According to data from BoxOfficeMojo.com , his films have grossed nearly $1.5 billion worldwide.

However, he has never shied away from expressing his political opinions and advocating for certain causes. In 2015, a speech he gave in favor of free healthcare in which he ripped into both sides of the political spectrum went viral and caused waves.

On his Twitter timeline , Sheen has frequently sounded off on both the “Brexit” vote and Donald Trump’s recent election to the U. S. presidency.

However, on Twitter, Sheen rushed to quell any speculation that he would be permanently retiring.

Sheen’s girlfriend of several years and fellow actor, Sarah Silverman, has been especially politically active as well, campaigning on behalf of Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary and speaking at the Democratic National Convention on behalf of Hillary Clinton.

Silverman retweeted Sheen’s message about his uncertainty regarding his actign future, as well as another tweet that read : “As actor Michael Sheen decides to dedicate himself to activism, it's worth remembering his NHS speech,” and linked to the speech above.

2016-12-17 22:39 By Greg www.charlotteobserver.com

22 /99 2.1 Ruby Rose shows off her new pink hair in colour co- ordinated outfit in Beverly Hills as she plans to spend Christmas in Australia with girlfriend Jess Origliasso She's known for her role in Orange Is The New Black. But pink seems to be the colour of the moment for Ruby Rose. On Saturday, the Australian-born actress stepped out in Beverly Hills, showing off her new pink hairdo amid a pink and black themed head-to-toe look. The 30-year-old's colour co- ordinated outfit for her shopping spree, included a animal print coat and a pair of pink reflective cat-eye sunglasses. The star, who is known for her fashion-forward style, completed her look with tight black jeans and heeled ankle boots. Ruby looked relaxed as she indulged in retail therapy in the upmarket Los Angeles suburb. The star smiled as she strolled along, carrying bags from designer label, Gucci, as well as lingerie brand Agent Provocateur. It was perhaps a last minute spot of Christmas shopping for Ruby, who is returning to Australia for several days over the festive season to reunite with girlfriend - The Veronicas' singer Jess Origliasso. The actress, who will next be seen in Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, is expected to arrive Down Under in the coming days. After her shopping trip, Ruby uploaded a photo to Instagram in the same outfit proving she looked pretty in pink. The star posed in front of a backdrop that matched her hair, coat and shades. 'It's a Pink kinda day @marcjacobs,' the star captioned the snap, shared with her 9.4 million followers. She also included in brackets, 'Faux fur like every other thing I wear, for the 100 millionth time'. Ruby, who is not afraid to experiment with her style, dyed her hair pink on Friday. It marked a striking change for the star who is known for her jet-black 'do. Ruby and Jess will spend Christmas together, after recently rekindling their romance. The couple were first linked in 2008, and reportedly had an on-off relationship. Loved up Ruby shared a selfie of the pair on Thursday, captioning the snap with a simple 'heart' emoji. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph , Jessica revealed that she and Ruby will be spending the festive season with each other's families. 'She is going to be flying out here in a few days and we are going to be spending some time with my family and her family,' she said 'We will head to the US after that,' she added.

2016-12-17 22:30 Andrew Court www.dailymail.co.uk

23 /99 3.0 Cabinet briefed to warmly welcome 'president' Hillary Evidence has emerged that the Government would have been more excited about the US election result if it had been won by Hillary Clinton.

Briefing notes prepared by the Department of Foreign Affairs show the Government had a euphoric speech prepared to greet a win for the Democratic candidate.

The speaking notes prepared for ministers contrast significantly with a more downbeat message to congratulate the eventual winner, US President-elect Donald Trump.

The notes for each eventuality were prepared for Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan ahead of any public utterances on the election result.

Hillary Clinton was to be referred to as "a good friend of Ireland" and "an extraordinary individual". Her rival Donald Trump (below), known for his brash comments and bombastic style, was to be given a subtle reminder of his new responsibilities as a world leader.

The note also served as a prompt to publicly remind Trump about the traditional St Patrick's Day reception at the White House before the commentary turned prickly. "We are all acutely conscious of the particular responsibility of the United States for leadership and engagement across the globe in our endeavours to address our shared challenges," it stated.

It also highlighted "the cause of international peace and security" and hopes of establishing a "productive working relationship".

There was no such urge to tell Clinton of the diplomacy that comes with holding public office.

A warmer and friendlier tone was to be offered to the Democratic candidate if she won the election.

"President-elect Clinton has been a good friend to Ireland for many years and the Government looks forward to working closely (with) her and our new colleagues in the White House," read the note.

"She has made history in becoming the first female president of the US - an extraordinary achievement by an extraordinary individual. "

The different tone also extended to each candidates' Irish-American running mates, with the Government appearing to hold a preference for one of its long-lost sons.

Trump's Vice President-elect Mike Pence was congratulated and a reference made to his Sligo- born emigrant grandfather in the note.

Speaking of Clinton's running mate Tim Kaine, who has ties to Longford, the note said: "Irish- American men and women have made an extraordinary contribution both to the development of the United States from its foundation and to the enduring relationship between our nations.

"I know Mr Kaine will seek to build further on this legacy. "

2016-12-17 22:30 Sunday Independent www.independent.ie

24 /99 0.0 Nick Tilsley in dramatic punch-up with Peter Barlow over girlfriend Leanne Tilsley in explosive Christmas Corrie episode Christmas Day looks to be a dramatic one on the Coronation Street cobbles. In a teaser for the explosive episode, Nick Tilsley flies into a jealous rage with girlfriend Leanne Battersby's ex Peter Barlow. With tensions running high, things come to blows in what looks to be a dramatic festive episode. Scroll down for video When Nick, played by Ben Price, spots Peter, played by Chris Gascoyne, heading out of their shop on Christmas Day, he is immediately suspicious. Realising the Bros tape is missing from the drawer, Nick confronts Peter, convinced he is after Leanne- played by Jane Danson. Not backing down, Nick punches Peter and the two men are soon brawling in the street. Having heard his pregnant girlfriend and her ex reminiscing about the boyband has roused his suspicions. Nick then grabs the Bros tape from Peter's pocket- entitled 'To the love of my life', and thrusts it at Leanne ordering her to open it. Leanne is horrified as she reads the message, but what is Peter's game? Meanwhile it seems that Coronation Street's Peter has managed to bag himself a new fancy woman, Chloe. Shooting new scenes together in Manchester on Tuesday, the Barlow bad boy (played by Chris Gascoyne) was seen getting cosy with the street newcomer (Jo-Anne Knowles). Despite still harbouring feelings for his ex Leanne Battersby, it seems Peter is once-again making the most of his single status. Eagle-eyed fans of the soap may remember the actress from her previous two outings on the show. She first waltzed into Weatherfield in 1996, when she played TV reporter Gilly Saunders, and then again in 2001 when she played DC Ann Short, who was involved in the alleged disappearance of Linda Baldwin. Jo Anne has been in many shows including Emmerdale,The Bill,Waterloo Rd,Cold Feet Eastenders and she appeared in Corrie before as DC Ann Short 20 years ago.

2016-12-17 22:24 MailOnline Reporter www.dailymail.co.uk

25 /99 1.5 Catherine McNeil flaunts her svelte figure in a bikini top and shorts as she steps out for dinner at Bondi Icebergs Catherine McNeil has been enjoying the balmy Sydney summer since returning home, posting pictures from the beach and enjoying quality time with friends. And on Wednesday, the chocolate haired beauty, 27, stepped out in Sydney's eastern suburbs to enjoy dinner at the trendy beach side restaurant Bondi Icebergs. The Australian model, who recently returned from Paris, rocked her summer best in a bikini top and tiny shorts, flaunting her toned figure as she made her way to dinner. Scroll down for video The brunette beauty had her hair out and naturally waved as she walked down the Sydney street towards the restaurant after enjoying a day by the Bondi rock pools. In addition to the black bikini top and tiny shorts, Catherine wore a heavy black jacket which she had unzipped for the outing. Taking to Instagram earlier that day, Catherine posted pictures of herself crouching beside the ocean showcasing her heavily tattooed back as she played with her dog. The tall Australian model was joined by Willow Connell in the picture captioned with emoticons of dog paws. The summery snap came after the slender fashion icon posted a snap readying herself to indulge in a banquet of junk food. Burger rings, Doritos, Allen's Lollies and Corn Thins were among the sweet and savoury goodies that Catherine had with her for her day in the sun. She captioned the image which also featured a friend of hers: 'Best thing about being home.' A bottle of champagne and energy drinks were also seen in the snap, but it is not obvious whether these were taken along for the outing. Catherine was seen cutting a similar figure in the same outfit later seen outside Bondi's Iceburg restaurant. The 27-year-old found fame after winning the Girlfriend Magazine model search at fourteen and was part of the top 30 models of 2000 in Vogue Paris. Catherine has recently been in Paris for work and is often seen posting pictures of herself in the French city - counting the days before coming home to Sydney. Although Catherine is regularly seen cutting elegant figures in chic couture outfits her personal style is edgier than the fashion she dons in magazines. The smouldering beauty often posts pictures of herself in barely there outfits which put her ample assets on display.

2016-12-17 22:23 Aneeta Bhole www.dailymail.co.uk

26 /99 1.2 Disturbing content in a government report on misbehavior in the cherokee fire department. CHEROKEE COUNTY - When a government document includes a full page warning about a report having graphic content that's a telltale sign the matter is serious. That warning refers to a picture snapped inside one of the Cherokee County Fire houses.

The photo described by county authorities as inappropriate has been edited partially for common standards.

At FOX 5, we are not showing what was released. In broad terms, what's in the photos shows two male firefighters in activity that can easily be characterized as lewd. There is an acknowledgement from a third person who was present and snapped a cell phone photo.

The picture shows of the two in direct contact, one appears to possibly be sleeping. But did that really happen is a question raised in the investigation, according to sources familiar with the case. three firefighters have been terminated. More disciplinary actions are possible.

2016-12-17 22:22 Morse Diggs www.fox5atlanta.com

27 /99 0.0 Cate Blanchett reveals she isn't worried about her career in film as she makes her Broadway debut in The Present Speaking to Vogue , prior to taking the stage Cate Blanchett revealed when making her decision to focus on the STC, she wasn't thinking about her film career at all. Scroll down for video 'Someone said to me when Andrew and I were offered the job of running the theater "That is the most insane decision you could make. What's going to happen to your film career? " I didn't think about it. It'll either be there or it won't.' The Blue Jasmine actress added: 'It's the interesting work and conversation that drive me, whatever the medium may be.' When speaking of her role in The Present, Cate explained Anna is like the weather. 'Emotional states come upon her one after the other, and you have to simply be inside the shifting states, which is either excruciating or thrilling.' The Present is playwright and Cate's husband Andrew Upton's adaptation of Chekhov's Platonov and will officially begin January 8 and last for 13 weeks. The preview performances however, started on Saturday. Andrew, Cate, and Richard, have dabbled in New York theatre before, including 2012's run of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya at the Lincoln Center - but never on Broadway. Broadway critics have high hopes, with the New York Times' Ben Brantley telling readers 'I am licking my chops' in anticipation of the production. The Present unfolds over the course of a birthday celebration in the post-Perestroika Russian countryside when old flames reignite.

2016-12-17 22:21 Aneeta Bhole www.dailymail.co.uk

28 /99 0.0 Johnson summons diplomats over Syria Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has summoned Russia’s and Iran’s UK ambassadors to plead his “concern” over a countries’ actions in Syria.

He pronounced they had “failed” to defend “humanitarian law” by not assisting assist get to Aleppo when it was underneath siege.

Nearly 1,000 people have been evacuated from a city.

Theresa May pronounced President Assad, Russia and Iran “bear shortcoming for a tragedy in Aleppo”, adding that a UK would yield £20m in aid.

Syrian supervision army took scarcely all remaining rebel-held tools of Aleppo this week after a four-year battle.

Mr Johnson, who met Russian envoy Alexander Yakovenko and Iran’s Hamid Baedinejad alone on Thursday afternoon, pronounced he had conveyed a UK government’s “profound regard over a conditions in Aleppo”.

He added: “Both Russia and Iran have unsuccessful to defend their obligations underneath general charitable law, privately by unwell to promote a smoothness of charitable assist to civilians during a months when eastern Aleppo was besieged.

“They merit no credit for a fact that an depletion appears to be underneath approach today. Having inflicted such pang on a people of eastern Aleppo, Iran and Russia can't design regard for permitting some people to shun during a final hour.

“Both countries need to safeguard a UN now oversees a depletion routine and that all civilians and non-combatants are scrupulously protected.”

At a limit in London, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon also cursed a savagery of pro-regime army in Aleppo, and reiterated a UK’s perspective that it sees no destiny for President Assad in Syria. ‘Appalling situation’

Prime Minister Mrs May pronounced a “appalling conditions in Syria” was a many critical object discussed by EU leaders during a European Council limit in Brussels.

She urged President Assad and his backers in Russia and Iran to “allow a United Nations to safeguard a protected depletion of a civilians who are left there”.

“The UK is going to yield a serve £20m of unsentimental support for those who are many vulnerable.

“The mayor of eastern Aleppo pronounced to us: ‘We can’t move behind those we have lost, though we can save those who remain.’ And that is what we contingency now do.”

A matter from a Russian Centre for a Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, partial of Russia’s method of defence, pronounced a Syrian authorities had guaranteed a reserve of all members of a armed groups who motionless to leave Aleppo.

2016-12-18 00:00 admin headlinenewstoday.net

29 /99 1.9 The world's most powerful woman? It's so dispiriting but try Delia Smith, writes LIZ JONES Last week, to celebrate its birthday, Woman’s Hour unveiled its list of the seven most powerful women of the past 70 years. Perversely, the women they chose (most dead; one fictional) serve only to show how little power we women actually have. Take Germaine Greer, nominated for her seminal feminist works, who has gone on to take part in Big Brother and Through The Keyhole. Can you imagine Umberto Eco before he died earlier this year, taking part in I’m A Celebrity? Or take Bridget Jones, another on the Woman’s Hour list. Why exactly is she powerful? She reassured a generation of women it was OK to live in a pokey attic flat, to constantly bounce cheques, to drink awful cheap wine, and that their only hope of salvation is a rich man. Of course she makes us laugh, essential in a world where we are thwarted at every turn, betrayed, exploited, cheated on, sacked, overlooked, given bad advice, but she has no power: she is a sedative. Margaret Thatcher is on the list, and the one person in the world, male or female, I would say who most changed my life. I worked in Fleet Street at the height of the union unrest in the early 1980s when, for months, I sat at a desk twiddling my thumbs, with nothing to do, given the paper wasn’t being printed. I have never been called so many obscene names in one day as I was when I was bussed through the Wapping picket lines. (It was comical, too, the bussing. As I’m deaf, I had to keep mouthing to the pickets, who were foaming at the mouth: ‘Pardon? Ay? Excuse me, can you say that again?’) Thatcher helped end that madness. But in order to wield power she had to act like a man: heartless, single-minded, arrogant, a workaholic. You can’t imagine her ever going home early to take the cat to the vet. Most men in power don’t even know they have a cat. And this is the problem: most women cannot reach power, because we’re still the carers. This, after all, was the year we were supposed to welcome in a woman leader of the free world. Instead, a notorious sex pest won the keys to the White House. My theory? Hillary had too much of Bill’s dirty laundry to deal with. It’s a familiar problem for wives everywhere. Can you imagine how much national productivity has gone down over the past few days, as women worry not just about the washing basket but about turkey crowns and cheese boards? Until men stop being so useless, we will always be too busy changing a bulb on the Christmas lights to have our finger on the red button. So no, the seven women on the list haven’t upset the status quo. (Actually, the one thing I applaud Bridget for other than her humour is her inability to cook, do housework, or be a certain shape.) But as someone who loves a list, I thought I’d compile an alternative team of women I feel have not just been powerful, but have truly changed the way we think and act in modern Britain: Nicola Adams, the first woman to win an Olympic boxing title; Delia Smith; Diana; Kim Kardashian. Why those four? Well, just look at how women today behave. Sure, we’re not all Olympic boxers, but women now pick fights over the smallest things. I know I do – with Npower, with men in white vans, with checkout staff in the Co-op who lick my carrier bag before they hand it to me – yet I cannot remember my mum ever having an argument with anyone in 94 years. St Delia? She turned shopping, cooking and washing-up from a chore into a new national religion. Now women don’t just sweat at the stove, we have to pretend we enjoy it too. Diana? The queen of the public confessional who ushered in our age of emotional incontinence. Kim Kardashian? The icon for every girl who dreams not of becoming PM but of getting the most ‘likes’ on Instagram images of themselves with perfectly contoured faces. That’s what’s so dispiriting. The powerful women today, the ones who have truly shaped our lives in the here and now, have pushed us backwards instead of forwards. It’s as though they have been planted by men to keep us occupied so they can get on with the job of bossing us around and earning more money.

2016-12-17 22:00 Liz Jones www.dailymail.co.uk

30 /99 1.2 Generous grandparents will blow an average of £236 on festive gifts for their grandchildren this Christmas Worried your children will be spoiled this Christmas? Then keep a close eye on grandma and grandpa... Generous grandparents will spend an average of £236 on presents for their grandchildren this festive season – or about £59 per child. One in ten said they planned to splash out at least £100 per grandchild, according to a survey by the Co-op, despite a fifth living more than 100 miles away from them. Some 14 per cent also admitted they spend different amounts on their grandchildren, depending on how old the child is, how often they see them and how easy they are to shop for. Another 14 per cent revealed they are struggling to pick a gift – because their grandchildren already own so much. 2016-12-17 21:58 Mail on www.dailymail.co.uk

31 /99 1.9 Sir Cliff shoots to calendar chart No1 after beating out young rivals including Little Mix and Justin Bieber He endured an awful ordeal after being dragged in to the child sex abuse scandal – but at last Sir Cliff Richard has something to celebrate. The veteran pop star, 76, has beaten young rivals including Little Mix and Justin Bieber for the best-selling calendar of 2017. Last year, amid the damaging allegations, Sir Cliff was toppled by boy band One Direction. But this year he is back to number one – outselling Canadian superstar Bieber, 22, by two to one in the Amazon chart. Sir Cliff’s 2017 calendar, below, is his 38th and features classic photos taken over a career which spans more than 50 years. In June, the Crown Prosecution Service announced it was taking no further action against Sir Cliff in its investigation of historical sexual assault. Amazon’s top-selling celebrity calendars for 2017 were Sir Cliff, Little Mix, Justin Bieber, Kylie Minogue and Elvis Presley. Social media stars Joe Sugg and Caspar Lee made their chart debut – in joint place at number ten.

2016-12-17 21:42 Mail on www.dailymail.co.uk

32 /99 2.4 How the man who made the BBC's Planet Earth so magical had a true Jungle Book childhood living as a real life Mowgli Far from civilisation, a small British boy stands in a jungle clearing with a brilliantly plumed parrot happily perched on his hand. Alongside him are the young friends he’s made from a primitive tribe, whose way of life has hardly changed for a thousand years. It’s a scene that conjures up an image of the much-loved character Mowgli in The Jungle Book, but this is a glimpse of the magical childhood of the producer behind the phenomenally successful BBC natural history series Planet Earth II. Tom Hugh-Jones was only five years old when his anthropologist parents left behind their genteel existence as lecturers at Cambridge University and brought him on an expedition to the remote Amazon rainforest of Colombia. It proved to be an extraordinary year-long adventure in which Tom was allowed to run ‘feral’, heedless of the dangers from jaguars and poisonous snakes. Talking to The Mail on Sunday, Tom says this astonishing experience of living in the wild led to his success as a filmmaker documenting the animal kingdom. But the 42-year-old admits that as a young English boy he initially struggled with some of the primitive ways of jungle life. ‘I remember that on my first day in the jungle, travelling by canoe upriver to a tribal settlement, the locals pulled out their blowpipes and began firing darts at monkeys in the trees along the riverbank. I was so shocked I began to scream to frighten the monkeys away and save their lives,’ he says. ‘It worked, but it didn’t go down well with the locals, who were living on the brink of starvation, constantly hunting for their next meal.’ But he soon got into the swing of things and before long he was carrying his own blowpipe and wielding a machete, stalking the creatures he would later film. ‘We’d go hunting for parrots, monkeys, toucans and wild pigs,’ he recalls. ‘They were all part of my diet, as well as caterpillars, ants and all sorts of bugs. ‘By the end I had my own mini-blowpipe and bow and arrow. I even carried a machete.’ Until then, his life had been conventional, growing up in Cambridge with his academic parents and sister in a ‘two-up, two-down’ Victorian semi. Tom went to the local infant school and spent his free time riding his bike and playing with friends. Perhaps the only oddity was the absence of a television in the house. But everything changed when his parents decided to uproot the whole family. ‘My parents were both anthropologists lecturing at Cambridge University and they were doing research on a tribe of Indians in the Amazon called the Barasana,’ he says. ‘When I was five they decided to take me and my elder sister out to the jungle to study the tribe.’ For the young boy it was a huge culture shock. ‘I slept in a hammock and wore virtually nothing apart from little G-strings that were traditional among the tribe. I really did go pretty much feral. I was allowed to run around the jungle and make fires where I wanted. I was in my element.’ The family immersed themselves in tribal life, which meant that they had to hunt and kill their own food. But Tom also developed an affinity for animals that would stay with him for life. ‘I had a very close relationship with a marmoset monkey called Issi, which became a pet and lived on my head,’ he says. ‘And yes, we saw poisonous snakes like vipers, I got bitten by army ants and there were jaguars there. ‘But I think there’s a myth that these dangerous jungle animals are out to kill you – that’s not the case.’ After a year the family returned to their life in Cambridge, although Tom admits it was a shock to the system and he remained in ‘Mowgli-mode’ for some time. ‘England appeared very controlling compared to the freedom we had in the jungle,’ he says. ‘And I think my mum had a problem because as soon as I finished school I would take all my clothes off and want to walk along any wall I could find.’ Not surprisingly, his jungle experience, along with his love of David Attenborough’s documentaries, led to Tom taking a degree in zoology in Bristol before joining the BBC’s natural history unit and helping produce the original Planet Earth series in 2006. He says: ‘It was a strange experience when one of my first assignments for Planet Earth took me back to the Amazon and I found myself filming animals I once used to hunt for food. I would keep saying to the cameraman, “They taste nice.” And I kept coming across familiar smells and tastes that evoked half-forgotten but vivid childhood memories.’ As the producer of Planet Earth II he was responsible for overseeing the highly talented teams who made the six films that have captivated millions of viewers over the past two months. ‘Living in the Amazon jungle absolutely inspired me to become a wildlife film-maker,’ he says. ‘It gave me a sense of adventure, freedom and a love of being in the natural world among animals. 'My parents told me that I used to think I was an animal and they can see that in my films because by acting a bit like an animal you almost get into their minds. ‘That’s what we tried to do in Planet Earth II – to take away that barrier of humans observing animals and make you experience it as if you were an animal.’ In the ‘Jungles’ episode in Planet Earth II, Tom says he again tapped into his childhood experiences to help the team making the film give a truthful depiction to viewers. ‘When you first go into the jungle it can seem quite intimidating, but after a while, apart from the odd mosquito or leech, you realise it’s not this hideously hostile environment that it’s made out to be,’ he says. ‘It’s actually a beautiful place. You have to take pleasure in the detail and the beauty of little things, and you have to open your eyes to it. ‘I think that was captured in the jungle film – those little bits of magic that you see behind the trees.’ Planet Earth II is out now on BBC Worldwide DVD.

2016-12-17 21:38 Sanchez Manning www.dailymail.co.uk

33 /99 0.5 After Ghost Ship and a crackdown, L. A.'s DIY music scene plans its response In the two weeks since the Oakland fire that claimed 36 lives at the venue known as Ghost Ship, the crackdown on other DIY (do it yourself) music venues has already begun. Prominent spaces including Rhinoceropolis in Denver, Bell Foundry in Baltimore and Purple 33 in Los Angeles have been shut down for building code violations or cited as illegal residences. City Atty. Mike Feuer has launched investigations to identify more unapproved venues, with some promises to help evicted tenants.

Struggling to form a unified response to the fallout, some of the most prominent figures in the local underground arts and music scene held a panel Friday at the East Hollywood arts venue Non Plus Ultra to discuss possible strategies.

The talk, “DIY Lives,” featured a varied swath of promoters, venue owners and artists, many of whom are facing the loss of their own venues. Speakers included Jim Smith of the downtown club the Smell, Pauline Lay of the late Echo Park venue Pehrspace, filmmaker Matthew Conboy, whose documentary “Goodnight Brooklyn” followed the life and demise of the New York venue Death by Audio, and Randy Randall of the punk group No Age. While there was an air of malaise at the gathering about the impending venue crackdown, most of the panelists agreed that change was inevitable. Many admitted they were alarmed by general misconceptions about the DIY scene that have circulated after the Oakland tragedy.

One of the biggest mysteries to come out of the deadly Ghost Ship fire is why authorities didn’t do more to address safety and health concerns about a warehouse that some former residents described as a “death trap.”

Fire officials said they had no record of their inspectors or firefighters going...

One of the biggest mysteries to come out of the deadly Ghost Ship fire is why authorities didn’t do more to address safety and health concerns about a warehouse that some former residents described as a “death trap.”

Fire officials said they had no record of their inspectors or firefighters going...

Lay said some media outlets did not understand the DIY culture. Venues that were characterized as dangerous “also felt very safe, like you were around other people who understood what was going on.”

“The more we talk, the more the public will embrace what we do as beneficial to communities,” Smith said. “We have to come out of the underground and get the city and community to help us. We need to not be afraid to reach out to the city and describe what we do and the ways that it’s of value. And if we can make it safer, then we’d do it in a heartbeat.”

Lay agreed: “There are cool people [in government] who understand what these spaces are, and we can seek them out and explain that we want to be safe.”

Many on the panel were also frustrated by media’coverage of the Ghost Ship fire as a “rave” that went badly. That word — a descriptor for a large, unregulated outdoor dance music event — had little to do with the culture or logistics of most DIY venues, they maintained.

Several panelists expressed dismay that the DIY culture was also disparaged on social media, with some users implying that the victims of the Oakland fire, many of whom were LGBT and minorities, deserved their fate.

Though some venues such as Ghost Ship were undeniably unsafe even by DIY standards, panelists like Randall expressed that it was important to get a more accurate depiction out about what goes on in off-the-grid spaces. He viewed semi-legal spaces as fundamentally American, and essential to the intellectual life of young fans.

In his view, Randall said the DIY philosophy encourages “being a freethinking person in charge of your own life. We do it because it’s a form of living.”

Paul McCaffrey, one of the panel’s organizers, recognized that the DIY culture is now facing unprecedented stress and scrutiny in the wake of the Ghost Ship tragedy, and that promoters and artists should seek new ways of communicating.

“It’s important to remember that we don’t need to use the Internet as our only means,” he said. “Before the Internet, these spaces still existed. You don’t have to rely on Facebook to get things done.” Still, he added, “One of the important things to come from Oakland is that we have to talk about our experiences,” in ways that rebut inaccuracies about DIY culture.

Following the discussion, Conboy’s film, which spliced performance footage from Death By Audio with scenes of Brooklyn changing into a more upscale, straitlaced borough, was screened. In the film’s central irony, the venue was evicted after Vice Media, the $4-billion culture and politics hub and one of DBA’s early champions, took over the building.

The film was made well before the Ghost Ship fire, but attendees at the event speculated that the impending crackdown would negatively affect the ambitious kids that made them thrive in the first place.

“It’s becoming a dystopia for all outsiders,” Randall said. “There’s a lot to be said for us getting loud and getting in people’s faces. I’ve got a sinking feeling it’s only going to get worse, so we just have to go harder and bigger.”

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.

2016-12-17 21:35 August Brown www.latimes.com

34 /99 2.2 Ryan Stokes and Claire Campbell cement their status as a power couple as they return from New Zealand honeymoon to Sydney's social scene They were married in a lavish ceremony on Sydney's Garden Island earlier in the month. And after a brief honeymoon in New Zealand, Seven West heir Ryan Stokes and wife Claire Stokes (nee Campbell) are expected to make the rounds on Sydney's social scene over the festive season. He proposed to Claire in June this year, the same month he turned 40, almost two years after they met. The couple were introduced through mutual friends in late 2014, and they pursued a months-long Facebook relationship before their first date, which lasted for four hours.

2016-12-17 21:32 Andrew Court www.dailymail.co.uk

35 /99 35 /99 2.1 Toys distributed to needy through CityTeam By Staff Report

Posted:

12/17/16, 8:02 PM EST | Updated: 5 secs ago

CHESTER >> With 400 volunteers fanning out throughout Delaware County, more than 12,000 presents were delivered to 2,500 homes so low-income children would get a gift this Christmas.

Over a month ago, struggling parents registered their children, as corporations, local small businesses and volunteers collected the toys.

The immense effort was coordinated by CityTeam, who directed the toys to be delivered to each family’s doorstep, along with a family food box and turkey.

“No child should feel forgotten during Christmas. The families that have pre-registered for our special Christmas Adopt-a-Family program are really struggling to even feed their children and don’t have the resources to purchase any presents for them,” said Kwinn Tucker, CityTeam’s executive director.

She shared how the process worked.

“When we deliver the presents they are given to the parents with wrapping paper and tape, so parents can present the gifts to their children on Christmas morning,” she said. “Empowering parents is an important part of our program.”

She explained that the food boxes are also distributed to individuals and the elderly.

2016-12-17 21:02 By Staff www.delcotimes.com

36 /99 7.1 President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks reflect his own personal characteristics Donald Trump has a mirror cabinet.

The President-elect vowed to look outside the typical Beltway pipeline in filling out his cabinet — and he did. But instead of seeking diversity, he simply looked in the mirror, tapping a bevy of white moguls who resemble him in different ways, including everything from bizarre tweeting habits to messy divorces litigated in New York’s tabloids.

Among his picks: Rex Tillerson (a titan of industry with a warm regard for Russian President Vladimir Putin) as his secretary of state, Steve Mnuchin (the subject of myriad messy lawsuits) as his Treasury secretary, Wilbur Ross (a New York mogul with a very publicly litigated divorce in his past) as his commerce secretary, retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn (a prolific tweeter and conspiracy theorist) as his national security adviser, Betsy DeVos (an insanely wealthy heiress) as his education secretary, and Stephen Bannon (another messy divorce) as his chief White House strategist.

Dems looking for confirmation fight over Trump’s Treasury pick

“It would appear the President elect is equating similar personal characteristics with loyalty and personal commitment,” explained David Caputo, president emeritus and professor of Political Science at Pace University.

But the “shielding from alternative arguments” likely to arise from ensuing groupthink “could lead to missteps,” he said, especially “in an environment where the processes and the use of power are often different from the private sector world” — where most of Trump’s choices have had their careers.

“So many are cut from the same cloth,” said David Birdsell, dean of the Public Affairs School at Baruch College. “Very wealthy people made rich through controversial business practices.”

Fitting that model the most is Tillerson.

KING: Trump’s cabinet is the whitest in a generation

As CEO of ExxonMobil, Tillerson’s business empire stretches across the world, including through several countries in the Middle East where the U. S. has critical interests, and more problematically, Russia, with whose state-owned oil company the 64-year-old Texan has a huge joint exploration deal and at least 10 other large joint ventures for potential projects.

Similarly, the President-elect’s own Trump Organization has business interests, including hotel properties and development contracts, all over the world, and Trump has so far stalled in presenting efforts in how he’ll avoid conflicts-of-interest.

Moreover, both men appear to be on warm terms with Putin. Tillerson received the strongman’s Order of Friendship honor last year and has spoken out against U. S. sanctions on Russia, while Trump, during the campaign, said Putin was a better leader than President Obama. He’s also dismissed evidence that the Russian government hacked systems in the U. S. to sway the election for Trump. Trump bears other similarities to the men he tapped for his economic cabinet positions:

Larry Kudlow to head Trump's council of economic advisors

Mnuchin, Trump’s choice to lead the Treasury Department, made a fortune as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs before starting a hedge fund used to help produce Hollywood blockbusters. But like Trump, he’s spent a big chunk of career mired in lawsuits over questionable business practices, including one filed in Manhattan Supreme Court last year accusing him and others of running a Ponzi scheme two years ago.

Ross, Trump’s commerce secretary, has been nicknamed “The King of Bankruptcy.” He made a career of buying failed or bankrupt companies, “turning them around” and selling them at huge profits.

But Ross’s overlap with Trump — both are New York billionaires — extends beyond bloated balance sheets: The duo both have messy experience with sensational divorces that were well- documented by New York’s ravenous newspapers.

Ross’s marriage with former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey made headlines when he allegedly promised her in 1998 $2.25 million if she ran for governor against her old boss George Pataki, but took back the money when the couple hit a rough patch. McCaughey claimed in a subsequent lawsuit that Ross ultimately agreed to give her campaign $500,000 if she signed a postnuptial agreement in August 1998. The couple divorced just months later.

Trump passed on Rudy for State due to concerns over his stamina

Trump, similarly, endured infamous divorces from both his first wife Ivana Trump and his second wife Marla Maples, with the city’s tabloids documenting every detail of Trump’s affair with Maples while he was still married to Ivana.

Experts say, however, that Trump’s fondness for his own likeness among his economic team, could actually be part of his broader policy aims.

Trump, Pace’s Caputo explained, has demonstrated he’s eager to be directly involved in economic policy making so “having kindred spirits around him may make it easier for him to do so.”

But government watchdogs say the similarities, especially regarding wealth and business in his cabinet, demand public scrutiny.

Treasury secretary pick Steve Mnuchin produced "Mad Max"

“While much has been said about Trump's own web of business interests, many of his appointees have substantial assets and business ties which could be greatly affected by the administration's policy decisions,” said Noah Bookbinder, the executive director for watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “There have been plenty of wealthy appointees before, but never with so many potential conflicts. "

That also pertains to Betsy DeVos, who as Trump’s education secretary would be charged with drawing up, proposing and executing federal legislation that relates to education policy. Her resume, however, much like Trump’s own, comprises only of being a billionaire (she’s married to the founder of Amway) and being a prolific GOP fundraiser. Stephen Bannon and Michael Flynn also share traits with their new boss.

Bannon, Trump’s chief White House strategist, endured, just as Ross and Trump did, a messy divorce. He was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence, battery and dissuading a witness in 1996. The charges were later dropped.

Flynn, Trump’s designated national security adviser, is a prolific Tweeter who, like Trump, has furthered conspiracy theories.

Flynn has used his Twitter account to share various fake news stories, including one right before the election claiming emails unearthed by Anthony Weiner sexting-scandal investigators contained proof that Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief were involved in money laundering and sex crimes with children.

Bringing them all together, however, is something else they share with their boss: No government experience.

“This seems likely to be a Cabinet with less collective experience in government than any Cabinet prior to the very first,” Baruch’s Birdsell noted.

“The policy-making experience is extremely limited,” added Pace’s Caputo, adding when it comes to predicting their success: “Only time will tell.”

2016-12-17 20:52 Adam Edelman feeds.nydailynews.com

37 /99 0.0 Now Oxford shields its 'snowflake' professors: Experienced academics are being offered counselling so they can avoid being traumatised by their research Experienced academics at Oxford University are being offered counselling so they can avoid being traumatised by their research. Critics say the move is the latest example of pandering to the emotionally delicate ‘snowflake generation’ who are over- sensitive to difficult situations. But university chiefs say the aim is to avoid ‘vicarious trauma’ for postgraduates researching fields such as war, genocide, natural disaster, domestic violence, imprisonment and sexual abuse. During two two- hour sessions last term, participants – many of whom would do teaching as part of their work – learned how to maintain their ‘personal and professional wellbeing’ despite facing ‘exceptional emotional demands’ from hearing about troublesome experiences. The move follows the introduction of ‘trigger warnings’ alerting students when lectures might include challenging material, and ‘safe spaces’ where controversial opinions cannot be voiced – moves which have been derided as over-sensitive and politically correct. Of the new counselling sessions, Professor Alan Smithers, an education expert from Buckingham University, said: ‘You would have thought that if people were likely to suffer from secondary trauma, they wouldn’t be in that line of work. ‘I cannot see why Oxford should use the time to put this on, but perhaps there is so much health-and-safety legislation around these days that the university might feel it has to protect itself from being sued.’ And sociology professor Frank Furedi, from Kent University, said: ‘Postgraduates are being treated as emotionally fragile patients who require therapeutic intervention to function.’ Earlier this year, The Mail on Sunday revealed that Oxford law students destined to be barristers and judges were told they could skip lectures covering violent cases if they feared the content would be too ‘distressing’. Archaeology students at University College London were also given permission to walk out of classes if they found them disturbing, and a lecturer at another London university ‘flagged’ her lectures on the Roman poet Ovid because his work depicts rape. Oxford University said that the new trauma workshops were open to anyone who might need them, but were primarily for graduate students, usually in social sciences, ‘doing research involving fieldwork in dangerous and emotionally distressing environments’. A spokesman said: ‘Our vicarious trauma workshops were designed for researchers whose work involved traumatic situations such as conflict zones, and whose own safety may have been in jeopardy. ‘The health and wellbeing of staff and students working in these areas is a priority for the university. ‘It is important that researchers are also aware of the effects that their research can have on them and their personal and family life.’ ‘Therapy culture’ is most prevalent in American universities, where students have demanded warnings before hearing about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, which both feature suicidal themes.

2016-12-17 20:47 Jonathan Petre www.dailymail.co.uk

38 /99 0.9 Inside the newsroom: Story of battling suicide can move a community to action SALT LAKE CITY — The reaction began coming in to our writers immediately after the stories first appeared online.

"Thank you so much " for the in- depth information, for the insightful and compelling narrative, for the courage to examine an unexpected consequence of success and affluence, for the ability to shine a light on one of Utah's most vexing and heartbreaking problems: teen suicide.

The stories, written by Jesse Hyde, Lois Collins and Lauren Fields, explore teen suicide for one important reason. We want to understand why some teenagers choose to take their own lives and provide the answers and solutions to help stop it. We want to help parents and teachers understand what can be done to help Utah's and the nation's children.

As Hyde writes: "This summer, the Utah Department of Health issued an alarming report that suggests an emerging public health crisis: suicide is the leading cause of death for 10- to 17-year-olds in Utah, and has tripled since 2007. "

What followed was the story of one Wasatch Front high school and what its leaders and students are doing to help prevent suicide. In The Lone Peak story: What you didn't know about affluence and teen suicide , the efforts of Principal Rhonda Bromley are detailed. The problem and history are expertly told by Hyde, but the focus is on solutions and lessons learned.

David and Laurel Ellis spoke about their son Jonny, who died by suicide nearly four years ago. The perspective they share can help every parent.

Collins' story centers on Gunnison and the difficulty for people in need of help to receive that help in rural communities. It's headlined Suicide in a small town: Why rural teens are at risk and what one county is doing about it.

Writes Collins:

"A 2015 study comparing teen and young adult suicides in all U. S. counties from 1996-2010 showed suicide rates in rural communities were nearly double those of urban areas — and the gap is increasing. "

We learn that access to mental health care is among the solutions needed to this problem.

In a roundtable discussion Friday hosted by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, we learned that there is work to be done. But will Utah lawmakers step up to help?

• Utah is 22 percent below the national average for its number of psychiatrists, which Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, said needs to be fixed.

• Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City, said he’s been trying to get a three-digit phone number dedicated to a continuously manned suicide/mental health prevention hotline. But he has yet to find legislative support for his proposal.

There are those in the state doing great work to bring suicide out of the darkness. The Deseret News is committed to find and report those light-shining examples of help and hope.

I encourage you to read these stories online and in Sunday and Monday's Deseret News and learn how conversations with your friends, your children, and your grandchildren can make a difference. In some cases it may even help yourself.

2016-12-17 20:45 Doug Wilks www.deseretnews.com

39 /99 2.4 Queen's 90th year marked by fashion and rock photographer A previously unseen portrait of the Queen by a photographer famed for his work on album covers and fashion has been released by Buckingham Palace to mark the end of the year in which the Queen celebrated her 90th birthday. Nick Knight, well-known for his fashion collaborations with Alexander McQueen , Yves St Laurent and Yohji Yamamoto as well as album covers for artists such as David Bowie, Lady Gaga, Bjork and Paul Weller, photographed the monarch and Prince Charles in the white drawing room at Windsor Castle.

The picture, shot last May before the final night of the Queen’s celebrations at the Royal Windsor horse show, has Prince Charles in a dinner jacket standing beside the Queen.

Knight, 58, whose debut publication in 1982 was a book called Skinhead , has had his work showcased in the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Saatchi Gallery.

“It was a great pleasure and an honour to photograph Her Majesty the Queen and the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle. I wanted to create a modern portrait that showed warmth and humanity as well as strength and tradition,” he said of his portrait.

The Queen thanked those who helped her celebrated her special day with a party in the Mall but said at the time: “How I will feel if people are still singing happy birthday to me in December remains to be seen.”

2016-12-17 20:37 David Connett www.theguardian.com

40 /99 2.0 Blue's Clues presenter Steve Burns reveals why he suddenly quit 14 years ago... and it wasn't because he died He is releasing a new kids album, - Foreverywhere - along with his friend Steven Drozd of the Flaming Lips (his fellow collaborator on a previous album, Songs For Dustmites.) They’ve even released a video for the first song, The Unicorn And Princess Rainbow, with the full album set for released in February. Burns revealed that he very seldom gets recognised as the Blue's Clues guy - in fact he has to fight to convince people. 2016-12-17 20:33 Kirby Kristen www.dailymail.co.uk

41 /99 4.1 Twitter mocks Donald Trump for 'unpresidented' spelling mistake In the heat of posting a provocative tweet early Saturday morning, Donald Trump 's spell checker apparently failed him.

The president-elect called China's seizure of a U. S. Navy drone on Friday an "unpresidented [sic] act" before deleting the typo and replacing it with a correctly spelled statement.

Yet the intervening hour and a half in which the mistake sat unfixed gave the Twitter-sphere plenty of time to get in a few jokes at the expense of Trump's spelling skills.

The hashtag "#unpresidented" quickly climbed to the top spot on the list of trending Twitter topics in the United States Saturday morning.

While the initial drafts of Trump's tweets are frequently rife with typos, most of which are corrected within minutes, Twitter users were especially drawn to this one for its unintended but deadly accurate double meaning. "Unpresidented," of course, sounds like a pithy description of unprecedentedly un-presidential behavior.

Others were just blown away by how Trump could overlook such a glaring mistake for so long.

Even J. K. Rowling got in on the action.

Trump has said that he dictates the majority of his tweets to "one of the young ladies" in his office. But most of those posted after hours — evenings, early mornings or on the weekend — he writes and sends on his own.

As for the actual content of the tweet, Trump's statement follows criticism from the Chinese government of the U. S. " hyping up " the incident. China has already agreed to return the watercraft.

More from Mashable : Trump didn't invite Twitter's CEO to Trump Tower tech summit Silicon Valley's giants gather at Trump Tower Kanye West wants a 'direct line' with president elect Trump

2016-12-17 20:24 AOL Staff www.aol.com

42 /99 42 /99 3.1 GIRL ABOUT TOWN: Sir Tim Rice is left off his baby daughter Charlotte's birth certificate Ten weeks after she was born at London’s exclusive Portland Hospital, I am happy to report that Sir Tim Rice’s baby daughter Charlotte at last has a birth certificate. But unfortunately, the document is missing a vital component – the father’s name. Sir Tim, 72, has never denied that he fathered the child – his fourth – during a brief relationship with the academic and playwright Laura-Jane Foley earlier this year. Scroll down for video However, the father’s name, occupation and signature have been left blank on the certificate, which is a public record. According to friends of both parents, Laura- Jane had intended to give her baby the surname Rice-Foley, but has now settled on Foley instead. I can also reveal that lyricist Sir Tim has agreed to contribute financially towards the cost of bringing up Charlotte. Laura-Jane, 34, registered the birth at Westminster Register Office a week after the six-week time frame required by law. Friends say she blames the delay on distress caused by a row over Charlotte’s surname. Sir Tim also disagreed with Laura-Jane’s original plan to give her daughter the first name Florence. ‘The baby was called Rice-Foley originally, but Laura was so upset by Tim [preventing that] that she fled the register office in tears and went back the following week to register her baby as Foley,’ a source close to Laura-Jane told me. ‘The register office staff were very understanding and allowed her to register the baby after the six-week cut-off.’ According to my sources, Laura-Jane believed that she and Sir Tim were going to move in together and she was hoping for a long-term relationship with the lyricist. One source added: ‘I understand that solicitors have been instructed on both sides to sort out an amicable future plan for Charlotte.’ Laura-Jane and Sir Tim declined to comment last night.

2016-12-17 20:18 Charlotte Griffiths www.dailymail.co.uk

43 /99 1.4 Bhojpuri film festival in Delhi: BJP promotes Bhojpuri movies to attract Poorvanchali voters from AAP's fold With Bhojpuri actor turned- politician Manoj Tiwari at the helm of affairs in Delhi BJP, the party is set to make Bhojpuri cinema a tool to change political dynamics in the national Capital. The city will host the first mega Bhojpuri film festival in February next year which essentially is aimed at wooing the dominant Poorvanchali voters in Delhi. The festival, ideated by Tiwari, has got the nod of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and will be held for seven days in February. Tiwari, the most successful Bhojpuri star and BJP's Poorvanchali face, had even met Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking nod for the film festival. 'The film festival will connect with a large chunk of migrants from states like Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh. At the same time, it will help the Bhojpuri film industry to break new grounds outside Bihar and UP,' Tiwari said. A senior BJP leader said the film festival will showcase 60 to 70 popular Bhojpuri movies. The venues of the festival will be fixed in different parts of Delhi that have a significant population of Poorvanchalis. 'Through these movies efforts will be made to highlight the positive side of the Bhojpuri genre. Bhojpuri movies are not all about vulgarity,' the leader said. The move assumes significance in wake of the increasing migrant population in Delhi that holds the key to any electoral success in the Capital. Poorvanchalis, comprising people from Bihar, Jharkhand and Eastern Uttar Pradesh, constitute nearly 50 lakh or 30 per cent of the vote share in the Capital. It is in order to win back the dominant Poorvanchali voters in the Capital the BJP has, for the first time, chosen a Poorvanchali leader as the head of its Delhi unit. This is also a departure from BJP's decade old dependence on the Punjabi-Baniya lobby in the Delhi BJP. Traditionally the Delhi BJP has been led by Punjabi leaders like Kedar Nath Sawhney, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Madan Lal Khurana as Punjabi and Sikh constitute nearly 30 per cent of Delhi's vote bank. Former Delhi CM and Sahib Singh Verma too was seen a leader of the Jat community and the migrants struggled to find their representation in the state politics. This was followed by the rise of Baniya lobby in the Delhi BJP which saw leaders like Vijay Goel, Dr Harsh Vardhan and Vijender Gupta. All these leaders went on to become the Delhi BJP president while the BJP also projected Harsh Vardhan as its chief ministerial candidate in the 2013 assembly polls. Goel and Vardhan are currently ministers in the Narendra Modi government. According to BJP, almost 50 per cent of the migrants in Delhi speak Bhojpuri. The language is also spoken widely in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has also given his consent for the film festival. Playing the regional card, the BJP also expects to win back the Poorvanchali voters that it had lost to Arvind Kejriwal in 2015 assembly elections. This had resulted in AAP's emphatic victory with 67 out of the 70 assembly seats falling into its kitty. The AAP, however, said such initiatives like film festivals would not change the mood of the voters. 'People of Delhi are disenchanted with the Modi government particularly after the currency ban. The BJP led MCDs are also facing serious corruption charges and have failed to deliver. Poorvanchali voters are united to support AAP in coming elections,' an AAP MLA said. In Delhi, there are at least 20 assembly constituencies or 80 municipal wards that are dominated by the poorvanchalis where they constitute 17 to 47 per cent of the vote share. In the 2013 assembly polls, Tiwari's impact in these seats had been influential. In the elections, Tiwari campaigned on 19 of these seats of which 14 landed in BJP's kitty. The Poorvanchali dominated seats in Delhi include Burari, Seemapuri, Gokalpuri, Karawal Nagar, Kirari, Badli, Nangloi, Rithala, Matiala, Vikaspuri, Dwarka, Uttam Nagar, Sangam Vihar, Deoli, Badarpur, Tughlakabad, Patparganj, Laxmi Nagar, Wazirpur and Rajinder Nagar. Tiwari, who hails from Bihar and is currently the North East Delhi MP, is tasked with consolidating migrant voters as well as mitigating the anti-incumbency which the BJP has been facing in municipal corporations for two consecutive terms. Besides countering the allegations of corruption and addressing the salary issues of MCD employees, the party will also have to keep poll equations intact to take on the AAP, which made its debut in the municipal corporations winning five out of the 13 wards in the municipal by elections held in May this year. The BJP even lost four of its strongholds to AAP and the Congress An accidental journey The current boom in Bhojpuri cinema began in 2004 with Sasura Bada Paisewala. The Manoj Tiwari-starrer was made with a meager budget of Rs 30 lakh and went on to collect a whopping RS 9 crore. In the next 12 years, more than 700 films were produced, transforming the 'fledgling cottage industry of the 1960s' into a 'bustling regional film industry', writes author Avijit Ghosh in his book, Cinema Bhojpuri. Bhojpuri cinema now attracts even Bollywood A-listers like Priyanka Chopra today. Priyanka's first film as a producer was released this year - began its journey quite accidentally. As the story goes, sometime in the late 1950s, actor Nazir Hussain met the then President Rajendra Prasad at a film awards function in Mumbai. 'Are you a Punjabi?' the President asked. When the actor replied that he was from Ghazipur district in eastern Uttar Pradesh, the President asked him to make a film in Bhojpuri. But Hussain said he was just a character actor and added that the venture would need a lot of money, but the President insisted. This inspired Hussain to make Ganga Maiya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo in 1962.

2016-12-17 20:17 Rakesh Ranjan www.dailymail.co.uk

44 /99 4.5 Christian Bale goes casual in sporty ensemble as he takes cute son Joseph, 2, for a father and son breakfast in LA He is a world famous Hollywood actor. But Christian Bale enjoyed some well- deserved family time on Saturday, taking his two-year- old son Joseph out for a spot of breakfast. The British actor, 42, put on a casual display as he carried his little boy to the eatery in LA. Scroll down for video Sporting combats, trainers and a grey T-shirt he layered with a black Adidas jacket. Wearing his hair in a shaggy style with a grown out beard, he held onto Joseph who looked cute in jeans and a splash-print top. Despite the Californian sunshine, the little boy had a quilted blue puffa jacket with him in case of a wintry chill. British Christian married American former model Sibi Blažić in 2000 and the couple are parents to daughter Emmaline, 11, and son Joseph, 2. The Dark Knight star has a packed schedule up until 2018. The Academy Award winner stars as a journalist in the historical drama, The Promise. The film, set during the Armenian Genocide, tells of a love triangle involving an AP journalist (Christian), a medical student and an Armenian woman. The movie premiered at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this year. A release date has not been set. The Little Women actor recently completed the drama, Weightless, set to hit theaters on March 17, 2017. Christian will again be a part of a love triangle set in Austin's music scene. The movie also stars Natalie Portman, Ryan Gosling, Cate Blanchett, and Michael Fassbender, among others. The actor will join Rosamund Pike and Stephen Lang in the western, Hostiles, and will star as Bagheera in the 2018 film, Jungle Book.

2016-12-17 20:15 MailOnline Reporter www.dailymail.co.uk

45 /99 45 /99 1.4 GIRL ABOUT TOWN: Tamara Ecclestone’s husband Jay Rutland decides to name and shame the social media trolls Many celebrities try to ignore social-media trolls but Tamara’s Ecclestone’s husband Jay Rutland has decided on another course of action – naming and shaming them. The businessman, 35, has been posting cutting comments of his own about the trolls on his Instagram page, and some of his 46,000 followers have followed suit. Jay, pictured with his heiress wife, recently posted a picture of one man he claimed had been nasty to him and his family. Scroll down for video Referring to the man’s bad teeth, Jay wrote: ‘Send me your bank details mate and I’ll send you a few quid for a bit of dental surgery.’ Well, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Tom's set for a May ball Pippa Middleton is not the only celebrity who will be walking down the aisle next May – Olympic hero Tom Daley is getting hitched that month too. Although diver Tom, 22, and his American partner Dustin Lance Black, 42, have fixed a date, they are still bickering over whether to have the ceremony in the UK or the US. If the couple do plump for this country, celebrity haunt Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire is high on their list for possible venues.

2016-12-17 20:15 Charlotte Griffiths www.dailymail.co.uk

46 /99 1.2 Prince Harry’s ex Cressida Bonas is enjoying her first taste of Hollywood with movie role Prince Harry’s ex Cressida Bonas is enjoying her first taste of Hollywood – starring alongside Judi Dench, Cara Delevingne and Alicia Vikander in the hotly anticipated movie Tulip Fever, which is out early next year. But while the 27-year-old’s star is on the rise, her first company accounts paint a less rosy picture. Scroll down for video They show she had assets of £3,116 for the year up to March – but owed £3,114 to creditors, leaving her just £2 in the black. But it’s unlikely Cressida, left, will end up on the streets – her father is entrepreneur Jeffrey Bonas and her mother is socialite Lady Mary-Gaye Curzon. Bagging a table at the Chiltern Firehouse has been virtually impossible since it opened, but it’s certainly not as difficult to grab a copy of the A-list haunt’s cookbook this Christmas – the price has been slashed by half on Amazon. The book, containing recipes from executive chef Nuno Mendes and owner Andre Balazs, is now going for £12, rather than £30. Luckily it has cocktail recipes too – much more my thing! When fogeyish Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg received an email asking ‘would you like to come to RHCP tonight?’ he couldn’t believe his luck. Jacob, 47, assumed RHCP referred to the Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioners and the event was a festive carol service. But his hopes were dashed when he read on. Not only was the invitation – from his former Tory colleague Louise Mensch – meant for his wife Helena, it was to see a concert by American rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers. Jacob tells me: ‘Louise knew only too well it wasn’t my cup of tea. I did a quiz instead.’

2016-12-17 20:15 Charlotte Griffiths www.dailymail.co.uk

47 /99 0.6 Jenna Dewan Tatum shares bizarre antics wearing Cheetos panties with light-up shoes and takes dogs and fish to see Santa The well-known snack's slogan may be 'dangerously cheesy,' but this might be taking things just a little too far. Jenna Dewan Tatum showed off her silly side on social media Friday and Saturday as she posed in Cheetos panties before taking her pets (all of them) to see Santa Claus. The 36-year-old wore the branded bloomers over her leggings, complete with bright, light-up tennis shoes. Scroll down for video Thankfully, they got another snapshot to commemorate the occasion. This one included not only Meeka, but also the star and her friend. It's no wonder Jenna is in such high spirits, as it's been a great year for the actor and producer, tackling roles in both Supergirl and No Tomorrow. She was one of Google's top trending actresses of 2016 according to a screen grab of the search engine homepage the performer shared on Friday.

2016-12-17 20:12 Stephanie Haney www.dailymail.co.uk

48 /99 1.1 'I was never dancing in the dark when it came to girls': He became one of the world's biggest rock stars but Bruce Springsteen was once an awkward teen embarrassed about his curly hair He would grow up to become one of the world’s biggest rock stars, able to entrance stadiums full of fans. But Bruce Springsteen was once an awkward teenager who was embarrassed about his curly hair and would spend ages practising dance moves alone in the hope of attracting a girl. And it worked. When he went to dances at the local YMCA, he says he nearly always won the girl, even if he often made a ‘complete fool of himself’. His admission comes as he appears on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs today and speaks about his childhood in New Jersey. The star, whose hits include Dancing In The Dark and Born In The USA, says: ‘Before I played the guitar I realised that girls loved to dance. So I spent quite a bit of time in my own mirror practising the different dance moves of the day [until] I was good enough to get the girl.’ But he tells presenter Kirsty Young that he was less happy with the way he looked, saying he thought he was ‘pretty hideous'. He adds: ‘I would use my mother’s hairclips to pin my hair down and then I would sleep on it exactly right on the pillow because I had Italian curly hair.’ Springsteen, 67, makes mainstream choices for his favourite songs, including It’s All Over Now by The Rolling Stones, I Want To Hold Your Hand by The Beatles and Like A Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan. For a book, he chooses Woody Guthrie: A Life, by Joe Klein, saying that the biography changed what he believed pop music could achieve, and his luxury item is a guitar. Springsteen also speaks about how his performances have been influenced by the difficult relationship he had with his father. He says: ‘I am trying to go back and make sense of things that at the time were unfathomable. That continues to this day. ‘I constantly go back and I put my father’s clothes on and I walk out on stage and I present some version of him and myself to my audience. Why am I doing that? 'I am trying to find the piece of it which would lead to a transcendence over the circumstances that I grew up in.’ His father Douglas was a bus driver of Dutch-Irish descent who resented his son’s ability to express the very feelings he was bottling up, the musician explains. He adds: ‘My dad had a sort of gruff exterior but inside he could be quite soft and sensitive. 'The qualities he had inside were the things I wore on the outside. They were just difficult for him to deal with.’ The musician, pictured right on stage, also talks candidly about his battle with depression, and explains how his clean- cut life was a reaction to his ‘chaotic’ childhood. ‘What I was interested in doing was creating some order and a safe environment for myself because my childhood felt very unsafe,’ he says on the programme, which is broadcast on Radio 4 at 11.15am today.

2016-12-17 20:10 Chris Hastings www.dailymail.co.uk

49 /99 1.9 F. M. B. showcases Jamaica in new video Dancehall artiste F. M. B., formerly known as Frass Man Brilliant, showcases the authentic Jamaican culture and scenic locations in his latest music video, Welcome To Jamaica. Some of the locations at which the video was shot include the National Heroes Park, Castleton in St Mary, Dunn's River Falls in Ocho Rios, West End in Negril, and Hope Gardens in Kingston. ...

2016-12-17 20:06 system article.wn.com

50 /99 50 /99 3.7 A half-in, half-out deal with the EU might best serve 50/50 Britain I t was just after three in the morning when the ticker at the bottom of the BBC’s results programme revealed that the vote count stood at exactly 50/50. When the f inal tally came in , the Outs had prevailed over the Ins by a nose, but it is that image of a dead heat that still burns at the back of my retina. The outcome of the referendum was not the most significant moment of the British political year. For this country, it was the most significant moment of the century. With the subsequent election of Donald Trump , the Brexit vote has also been invested with a prophetic quality.

The shock was amplified because barely any of the politicians on either side had seen it coming. Nigel Farage had popped up earlier to concede defeat. Michael Gove had decided that it was going to be such a tedious night that he took himself off to bed and an aide had to wake him to tell him that his side had prevailed. David Cameron expected to be celebrating this Christmas in continued possession of the keys to Number 10. Theresa May heard about his resignation from the TV news.

If the outcome was stunning even to many who willed it, the details in the numbers were even more unsettling. They should trouble anyone, on either side of the argument, who cares about Britain. For it revealed a 50/50 nation. In June, Britain made up its mind about Europe – and turned out to be in two of them. Britain was also making a choice about how we saw ourselves and our place in the world. But there was no “we” about that either. On that deeper question, the people spoke with two voices. Britain was exposed as a country divided between the metropolitan and the provincial, the old and the young, the more affluent and those who have felt left behind, a Britain essentially comfortable with itself in the second decade of the 21st century and a Britain frustrated and discontented.

Six months on, that divide is as vivid as ever. There has been no catharsis, no healing. The losers remain sore, which is usual. Stranger is the behaviour of the winners. If anything, some of them are even angrier with the world and swell in their paranoia that there is a conspiracy to steal the spoils of their victory. The Outers press the argument that we must all bow before the demos and “respect the will of the British people”. To be fair, the In crowd would surely have said exactly the same had won. But what was not resolved by the result, and continues to be a swirl of contention, is how you show “respect” to a referendum result that answered one big question, only to raise many more questions almost as large. The conundrum is made all the more acute because the result was on such a knife-edge. If the government sought an outcome that aimed to represent the aggregate will of all those who voted, then it would try to negotiate a position that put Britain half in and half out of the EU. To respect the 52-48 margin by which Leave prevailed, they’d aim to be just a little bit more out than in.

It is a stupendous, and underappreciated, irony that the task of extricating Britain from the EU without irretrievably damaging the economy and further shredding our national cohesion has fallen on Theresa May. Go back to the chronicles of the Tory civil wars in the years running up to the referendum. Read those horrible histories and you will struggle to find her name. In the ferocious battles that convulsed her party for decades, Mrs May was a non-combatant. She had been so mute on Europe that it was an unknown which way she would jump until shortly before the campaign started. This was true even among the small club of people with a genuine claim to call themselves a friend of Theresa. They would express uncertainty about whether she was a closet Leaver or a reluctant Remainer.

Some believed that she would declare for Out because that would win credits within the Tory party and optimise her chances of getting to Number 10. As it turned out, she had an even smarter strategy, though it only looks like a cunning plan with the benefit of hindsight. She took the Remain side, not least because she assumed that it would win. But it was not a position that she held with any evident conviction. She surfaced only once during the campaign. Her speech in favour of continued membership was argued mainly on security grounds. It was regarded as so unhelpful for their cause by Remainers that people around David Cameron wondered if she was working for the enemy. It certainly worked for her. Mr Cameron quit to spend more time with his grouse shoot. Kamikaze Gove made his suicidal dive on to the bridge of HMS Boris. The invisible Remainer found herself in Downing Street. Even then, she was reluctant to embrace the task that time and chance had handed to her. As the full weight of the challenge began to descend on her shoulders, she tried to shrug off the burden. In her first speech from Number 10, she told the nation that she did not want her government to be defined by Brexit. Her first half year in office has been an education for the prime minister about the immensity of what faces her. What else have the past six months been about? Grammar schools? Oh, please. Brexit is the super-massive body dominating the political galaxy. Everything else is sucked into its irresistible gravitational field.

Sometimes it pulls her out of shape. The pressure to appease the hardline Brexiters bends a naturally cautious, pragmatic politician into something more demagogic and reckless. Her party conference speech, which alarmed moderate Tories, rattled business opinion and aggravated the EU leaders with whom she is going to negotiate, spoke as if the 48% didn’t exist. It is notable that her tone has since moderated.

More usually, she has erected walls of opacity around herself. The tautology of “Brexit means Brexit”; the cliche of “a red, white and blue Brexit”. One explanation for her refusal to say what form of Brexit she will seek (this the explanation preferred by Number 10) is that it would be foolish to expose her hand too early. Another (this the explanation offered by many civil servants) is that her government is profoundly divided about what it hopes to achieve. There’s truth in both, but I add a third element of explanation. The PM understands that the negotiation will involve compromises and is not willing to face the furies that will unleash from hard Brexiters until it is strictly necessary. Because the Brexiters are the most noisy, it tends to get forgotten that Mrs May appointed a cabinet with a Remainer majority. One reason she retrieved HMS Boris from the seabed and made him foreign secretary was that she had to have one prominent Leaver in a top job. By far the largest cabinet grouping is the Pragmatics, which includes both Leavers and Remainers. They know they have to deliver Brexit, but are rightly nervous about ending up with a disastrous version. To have a chance of success, there will need to be trade- offs. It will also need time.

Sir Ivan Rogers, our man in Brussels, has received a ritual roasting from the Brextremist press for warning that it could take up to 10 years to negotiate a new trading relationship. Sir Ivan was being obedient to Mrs May’s injunction to officials that she doesn’t want them to tell her what they think she wants to hear; she wants “the best possible advice”. A decade sounds like a reasonable guess to me. To see why, join me on a short excursion to Greenland. The chilly island joined the EU along with Denmark. Then, in the early 1980s, the Greenlanders decided they wanted out. That divorce took three years to negotiate and the main bone of contention was custody of fish.

If it took Greenland – population about the size of Canterbury – 36 months to negotiate its divorce, a decade for Britain to reset its relationship with continental Europe sounds optimistic.

As the daunting scale of the task has sunk in around Whitehall, the concept of a “transitional” arrangement is gaining traction. There is growing talk about trying to broker bespoke deals on trade and immigration rules sector by sector, which would make complex negotiations even more intricate. A transitional arrangement is acquiring a nickname: Smooth Brexit, also known as Smexit. Or Long Brexit – Lexit. It is also attracting suspicion from the usual suspects that it is a Remainer scheme to defy the referendum result. Anything that falls short of the most Brextremist terms of withdrawal will be greeted with cries of betrayal from that direction.

A long transition would leave Britain half in and half out of the EU. That would be devilishly difficult to negotiate, but it wouldn’t be inconsistent with the will of a people almost evenly divided by the referendum. A 50/50 deal is the sort of compromise that a pragmatic leader, who has always been essentially agnostic about Europe, would naturally be looking for. Theresa May probably intuits already that is where she will end up. She just doesn’t dare say so yet.

2016-12-17 20:05 Andrew Rawnsley www.theguardian.com

51 /99 1.5 French Beatlemaniac sells 15,000 items of a lifetime’s memorabilia Jacques Volcouve was a schoolboy fan of Jimi Hendrix in 1967 when his brother’s friend lent him a new album by a British band and urged him to listen to it.

The album was the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Volcouve loved it. It was the start of a 50-year obsession that has made the Frenchman one of the world’s greatest living experts on the Fab Four. “The Beatlemania bug bit me and I was never cured of it,” Volcouve told the Observer .

“I listened to the album and I thought the music was incredible. From then on, I wanted everything to do with the Beatles: records; newspaper clips, posters, memorabilia … everything.” In March, Volcouve, now in his 60s, will see his collection of 15,000 records, signed books, posters, autographs, figurines and memorabilia go on sale at the prestigious Drouot auction house in Paris.

To mark the occasion, the French tribute band We Love You Paul has been invited to play during the pre-sale exhibition of the thousands of lots.

For Volcouve, the sale will be a bittersweet occasion. He hopes that parting with what has turned out to be his life’s work will raise enough money to keep him in a comfortable retirement.

His career as France’s foremost “Beatles historian” began in the early 1970s, after he kept calling a French radio station to point out errors in a BBC series about the Beatles that they were airing, and was invited into the studio.

“What I wanted … was to share my pleasure and passion for the Beatles and in some way make sure that everything said about them was correct,” he said.

“I took in some of the recordings I had and the radio station had its archives, and we added material to the BBC series [ The Beatles Story ] so that the 12 hours that was broadcast in the UK became 18 hours of material in France. It was so successful that it was re-broadcast twice in the same year.

“From then on, I was introduced to everyone as the Beatles specialist.”

Even though the band had split up in 1970, Volcouve carried on collecting and promoting their “cultural importance” over the years while following the solo careers of the four members.

He founded the Club des 4 de Liverpool, an association that acted as unofficial press agency for the band in France and drew 1,500 members. He also published a magazine, which ran until 1984, and wrote nine books on the band.

Volcouve eventually met Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in person, but never managed to meet John Lennon, although he said he had met the singer’s widow, Yoko Ono.

“The Beatles were a cultural renaissance. In my view, everything we have today in the way of artistic culture goes back to them,” Volcouve said. “For me personally, their importance is that while other musicians gave people pleasure, the Beatles gave people happiness.”

Nevertheless, his obsession with the British band has cost him dear, said Volcouve, who has had no formal “career” and now lacks an income or pension.

When his parents died six years ago he was forced to move out of the rented family home and find a smaller flat. That also meant packing up his huge Beatles collection and putting it into storage.

“I don’t want to sound bitter but I gave my life to them [the band] and I’ve never had any recognition or help, not even a free ticket to a concert,” said Volcouve, his eyes filling with tears.

“For many years I was insufferable because all I talked about was the Beatles. I tried to find a professional job but in the end I was always the ‘Beatles historian’, and every time I had any money I spent it on Beatles stuff.

“Still, George [Harrison] told me in 1977 that if just one person appreciates your work then it hasn’t been a waste of time, and I know the things I have done over the last 40 years have been important to many people.”

“John wrote a song for Ringo that was never published about life beginning at 40. For me, life will begin at 60. I will go on loving the Beatles but the collection had become like an octopus whose tentacles were strangling me.

“I hope the sale will give me enough money to live on decently until I die, and my collection will have a new life with someone else,” Volcouve said.

The auction of his Beatles collection will be held at the Hotel Drouot on 18 March.

2016-12-17 20:05 Kim Willsher www.theguardian.com

52 /99 1.0 ‘It’s set in the trenches but it’s not a war film’ ‘It’s set in the trenches but it’s not a war film’ When Journey’s End , RC Sherriff’s powerful play about the first world war, was first staged in 1928, huge numbers of women went to see it. The author once observed that they recognised sons, brothers or husbands, many of whom never returned home: “The play made it possible for them to journey into the trenches and share the lives that their men had led.”

Now British film-makers are producing a version of the harrowing drama in the hope that by bringing out the human story, they will draw women and young people who might not see themselves as conventional war film aficionados. Veterans of recent conflicts have been consulted in an attempt to better understand how to portray the psychological trauma of war.

In Journey’s End – inspired by Sherriff’s experience of the western front before he was invalided home – Captain Stanhope, the hero, suffers undiagnosed shell shock, as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was known then.

Producer Guy de Beaujeu said that, through the film, they want to interest younger people – particularly women – in the first world war and show them how it is “of importance and consequence to them”.

“It’s not a war film,” said Beaujeu. “It’s a drama set in a war and it feels very important to us that the film is not a piece of heritage. It’s absolutely relevant today. It could be men and women going to Afghanistan, Iraq or any of the modern conflicts. It’s a window into that world of a war zone, where most of the time is spent waiting. There are moments of sheer terror, and then waiting again.”

Through Combat Stress , a charity that cares for military veterans who have suffered PTSD, actors Paul Bettany, Tom Sturridge and Toby Jones heard first-hand accounts from three veterans ofJourney’s Endus conflicts. Sue Freeth, chief executive of the charity, said that previous films have not “got to the nub” of an illness that affects many war veterans, up to 20%, according to some estimates.

De Beaujeu said: “One had a lost leg in Helmand, one had seen service in Iraq and Afghanistan, and another had been to Northern Ireland and Iraq. They talked about what it was like to be a soldier suffering from PTSD.

“The actors were humbled. It gave them an incredible insight. Coming face-to-face with guys who’ve genuinely been on the frontline and put their lives at risk was a very sobering moment.

“People might say it’s set 100 years ago, so what’s that got to do with us? It’s everything to do with what’s going on now. In our post-Brexit state, where we’re metaphorically turning our back on Europe, it’s also very important to show how we fought with our European allies.”

Sherriff, who died in 1975, served in France between September 1916 and August 1917 and was wounded in the face at Passchendaele. Having recovered in England, he went back to his previous employer, as a loss adjuster, and a decade later he penned Journey’s End, which he described as “writing about something real, about men I had lived with and knew so well that every line they spoke came from them and not from me”.

When it opened in the West End, a young Laurence Olivier played Stanhope and it went on to play to packed houses for years, being staged worldwide and becoming a syllabus text.

Robert Gore-Langton, author of Journey’s End: The Classic War Play , believes that its initial success was partly due to women making up a good deal of its audience: “It was a way of finding out what had happened. It became an unofficial war memorial; a meeting-place for people who had one thing in common – loss. People didn’t really talk about it when they came back. They didn’t want the degradation to infect their families.”

He added: “You get pretty much mixed audiences now. Women might not buy history books about the first world war, but they would go and see that play.”

Sherriff went on to write screenplays for The Dam Busters and Goodbye, Mr Chips. Journey’s End is planned for release next year.

2016-12-17 20:05 Dalya Alberge www.theguardian.com

53 /99 0.0 Scotland says to unveil single market Brexit plan this week LONDON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Scotland will publish proposals this week for how it can remain in the European single market after Britain leaves the European Union in order to avoid the "national disaster" of a "hard Brexit", the Scottish government said on Sunday. British Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the formal process of leaving the EU, by the end of March to kick off two years of exit talks. However, her plans for those negotiations have been shrouded in secrecy and businesses and investors fear Britain might seek a "hard Brexit" where controlling immigration takes priority over access to the European single market. While the United Kingdom as a whole voted to leave the EU in the June 23 referendum, Scotland strongly backed remaining in the bloc. The country's devolved nationalist government has said it wants to stay part of the EU when the rest of the UK leaves, and on Tuesday will put forward plans for remaining in the 500 million-consumer single market should that prove impossible. "In line with our commitments to explore all options to protect Scotland's interests, we will set out compromise proposals which, while not conferring the full benefits of EU membership, would mitigate the Brexit damage," said Michael Russell, the Scottish government's minister for EU negotiations. "At the heart of our plan is a framework to keep Scotland's place in the European Single Market. " Russell said such a plan faced "complexities" but a "hard Brexit" threatened 80,000 Scottish jobs over a decade. "That would be a national disaster for Scotland," he said. "Brexit presents everyone with an unprecedented challenge, and with political goodwill on all sides and a willingness to cooperate, these proposals can effect a solution for Scotland. " The plans also will outline further "substantial" new powers that should be handed to the devolved parliament in Edinburgh post-Brexit. May has promised to work with the devolved Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments to achieve a unified negotiating strategy for Brexit, which risks straining the centuries-old union between England and Scotland. Scots rejected secession in a 2014 referendum but the ruling Scottish National Party has warned it might hold a second independence vote. "Our intention now is that these proposals can be discussed and agreed in a UK context and then form part of the UK government's overall negotiating position when Article 50 is triggered," Russell said. (Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Helen Popper)

2016-12-17 20:05 Reuters www.dailymail.co.uk

54 /99 1.1 Hollywood’s hidden Hispanics: why LA’s Latinos are invisible on screen N ow here’s a pitch for a movie. An aspiring US politician announces that, if elected, he will build a mighty wall to prevent Latin Americans from entering his country. To everyone’s surprise, this guy gets elected and very soon finds out, as he tries recruiting in Los Angeles , that the only people he can get to do such poorly paid and onerous work are… Latin Americans. Sort of a dark comedy? Maybe a big Latino star as one of the building workers? Nice mariachi soundtrack? Or maybe not. Because there already seems to be a large and forbidding wall, albeit an invisible one, that prevents Latinos, who now make up approximately half of the LA population, from featuring in films about the city.

There have been three high-profile productions this year in which Los Angeles has played a starring role: Hail, Caesar! , Café Society and La Land , the last of which has high hopes as we enter the awards season. Yet none of the three casts much light on the millions of Latinos who live, work and play in the capital of film. How so?

There have been films in which Latinos have played a leading role but few have had the sort of box office returns that attract the big studios. Most recently, in 2014, Diego Luna, who came to international fame along with his co-star, Gael García Bernal, in Y Tu Mamá También in 2002, directed an eponymous biopic of the celebrated farm-workers’ union organiser, Cesar Chavez – in many ways the Latino equivalent of Gandhi or Mandela, who have both had reverential film treatments. It had a very cool reception.

Writing in Variety at the time of its release, Peter Debruge described it thus : “Recognising that Chavez’s victory in earning equal rights for migrant workers remains scandalously under-taught in classrooms, director Diego Luna responds with a biopic that feels more polite than political, counting on the worthiness of his subject and the participation of a well-meaning ensemble to galvanise mostly Latino audiences.”

Luna could be congratulated for at least getting the film made as – tellingly – the idea had been floating around Hollywood for decades. But it is significant that he is Mexican rather than an Angeleno, and his presence as director was a reflection of the fact that most of the leading Latino film names such as Bernal, Salma Hayek, Antonio Banderas and Javier Bardem come not from LA but from Latin America or Spain. Three currently high-profile, Oscar-nominated directors – Alejandro González Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón – are all Mexican-born, so things have certainly changed in some respects; 20 years ago, a now esteemed Mexican cinematographer was told on entering an LA agency that they did not need a gardener, thank you.

This year the main Oscars controversy focused on the lack of black faces, yet in 2014, Chris Rock – the black comedian, actor and this year’s Academy Awards host – wrote in the Hollywood Reporter : “Forget whether Hollywood is black enough. A better question is: is Hollywood Mexican enough? You’re in LA, you’ve got to try not to hire Mexicans.”

This theme was taken up last February by Los Angeles Times writer Hector Becerra in an article headlined “A film brownout – Latinos largely left out of even cliched supporting roles”. The parts that seem to be available for a Latino actor are most often that of a maid, a gardener or a gang member.

Becerra told the Observer : “Latinos in America occupy this spot where their American-ness seems to be in silent dispute – and sometimes not so silent. Because immigration has never ended, though it has abated compared to previous levels, there’s this lingering perception that we’re sort of foreign. It’s also an issue with Asian-Americans, I’m sure. I suspect that bleeds into popular entertainment. There’s generally just a lack of nuance with portrayals of Latinos in American films – if they’re portrayed at all.” He did note that the last two Star Wars movies featured characters played by Latinos, including Diego Luna in Rogue One , but added: “In general, I think Hollywood doesn’t really know what to do with Latinos beyond roles that emphasise their ethnicity.”

In Cannes last year, Salma Hayek spoke entertainingly about the way Latinos were still perceived in the industry. She recounted an incident in which a studio executive told her she could have been the biggest star in America, but her Mexican accent might remind people of their maids. She added that she had also been tipped to star in a sci-fi film but the director had run into that brick wall of preconceptions: “They said to him, ‘a Mexican in space?’”

The delicate issue of Latinos and the US film industry goes back nearly a century. In the 1930s, Spanish language versions of big Hollywood movies were shot at night on the same sets as the English-language ones. Lupita Tovar, who died last month aged 106, starred in 1931 in a Spanish-language Dracula , acting by night on the same set as Bela Lugosi did by day.

There have been some great and highly regarded Latino films over the last three decades. El Norte , directed by Gregory Nava in 1983, told the story of illegal immigrants whose plight was summed up by Rosa, played by Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez, in a way that still has an echo: “Here in the north, we aren’t accepted. When will we find a home?” It was nominated for a best screenplay Oscar. La Bamba (1987) was the admired biopic of Ritchie Valens, the musician who died with Buddy Holly in the 1959 plane crash. Born in East LA (1987) featured the comedian, Cheech Marin, better known to many old hippies as half of the Cheech and Chong standup duo. Stand and Deliver , starring Edward James Olmos in 1988, also packed a powerful punch. Mi vida loca (1993), directed by Allison Anders and promoted with the tag-line “mothers, warriors, sisters, survivors”, featured a largely unknown cast and a very young Salma Hayek. Ten years ago, Wash Westmorland and the late Richard Glatzer directed Quinceañera , a charming tale about the 15th birthday party of a girl played by Emily Rios that won critical acclaim but was made on the tiniest of budgets. In 2011, A Better Life told the story of a Mexican immigrant gardener trying to make a better life in LA for his sceptical teenage son. With their Latino themes ignored by the mainstream, many of these films have been promoted instead by the Sundance and Telluride film festivals.

Sometimes the stories have been told by foreign directors: Britain’s Ken Loach made Bread and Roses in 2000, from a story by Paul Laverty, about a strike by Latino janitors in LA. The idea came to Laverty when he was on his way home from a Beverly Hills party and noticed that all of his fellow bus passengers were from central America. “It was this very odd image,” said Laverty. “These people were working at some of the richest real estate in Los Angeles and having to wait for hours to get a bus home at night. They were an invisible army working for some of the richest lawyers and agents in the world.” Laverty recalled how surprised the extras, mainly LA cleaners, were when they saw the film for the first time. “It was amazing watching their faces. One of them said to us, ‘I never expected to see ourselves on screen.’”

There is a parallel universe of successful Spanish-language films shown in Latino neighbourhoods that operate beyond the radar of the big studios and in which soap stars play the main roles. And there have also been many fine films about crossing the border – most recently Cary Fukunaga’s Sin Nombre (2009) – but Los Angeles on film remains a much whiter place than its reality. “That’s LA – they worship everything and they value nothing,” says Sebastian, the jazz musician played by Ryan Gosling in La Land. This is unfair on LA, a much more interesting and elusive city than the “Tinseltown” putdown gives it credit for, but with that wall about to raise tensions across the borderline states and beyond, now would seem to be the time for Hollywood to grant much greater value to the invisible army in its midst.

Chinatown, 1974

Jack Nicholson is private eye J. Gittes, hired to trailing LA’s chief water engineer Hollis Mulray at the height of the water wars on the 1930s. .

Boyz n the Hood, 1991

Released in the year of the Rodney King riots, John Singleton’s searing debut – starring Cuba Gooding Jr, Laurence Fishburne and Ice Cube – follows three young men as they grappling with race and relationships in the city’s Crenshaw ghetto.

Crash, 2004

The sprawling, Oscar-winning drama tells linked stories of LA residents over 36 hours, laying bare racial and social divides.

Café Society, 2016

Woody Allen’s art deco-inspired, jazz-soundtracked homage to 1930s Hollywood stars Jesse Eisenberg as nebbish Boby Dorfman, the son of a Bronx jeweller who tries his luck in Hollywood. Bobby is smitten with his uncle’s secretary, Vonnie (Kirsten Stewart), who keeps him at arm’s length until, dumped by her boyfriend, she turns to him for comfort.

2016-12-17 20:04 Duncan Campbell www.theguardian.com

55 /99 0.9 HEALTH: Shine a light on better sleep Q A family member suffers continual debilitating insomnia due to Parkinson’s disease and I have read that bright light therapy could help. Could you confirm this and advise on how to use it? A Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological condition that affects one in 500 people, mainly aged 55 and older. Sleep problems occur in up to 96 per cent of patients, according to consultant neurologist Professor K Ray Chaudhuri of King’s College Hospital, adviser to Parkinson’s UK ( parkinsons.org.uk ). ‘Bright light therapy can really help some patients,’ says Professor Chaudhuri. ‘However, sleep disorder associated with Parkinson’s is complex and includes a range of problems, so it is important to define the specific type.’ In 2002, Professor Chaudhuri and colleagues developed the Parkinson’s Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS) for doctors to evaluate the frequency and specific nature of individual patient’s problems to help treat them. (Search PDSS on parkinsons.org.uk to download it.) Types of sleep disruption include difficulty getting to sleep (onset insomnia), staying asleep (maintenance insomnia), bad dreams, behavioural issues such as acting out violent dreams (known as REM sleep behaviour disorder), problems turning over, needing to urinate often (nocturia), frequent stiffness, spasms, low mood or depression on waking. ‘On top of that is restless leg syndrome and sleep apnoea [breathing problems],’ says Professor Chaudhuri. ‘These can all cause daytime drowsiness and other symptoms such as memory problems and lower immunity to infection.’ You say that your family member mostly has problems staying asleep and bright light therapy, which is not an invasive treatment, may help this, according to Professor Chaudhuri. He advises 30 to 60 minutes first thing in the morning. You can find light therapy panels online, usually advertised for treating seasonal affective disorder. They emit summer levels of bright light, with a usual output of 10,000 lux at a distance of 25cm. Professor Chaudhuri prefers 7,500 lux so it might be wise to sit a little further away (and always avoid looking straight at the light source). One option is the Lumie Arabica light box (£99.95, lumie.com). Additionally, Professor Chaudhuri advises taking supplementary vitamin D year-round as a deficiency, which triples the risk of developing osteoporosis, particularly in older women, is common in Parkinson’s. Talking to your doctor about a bone density scan and testing for vitamin D levels is vital. Website of the Week naturalbabyshower.co.uk There is still time to shop this charming selection of clothing, bedding and toys such as the Finn + Emma Penny the Pigeon Rattle Buddy (£24.50), which is hand- knitted with organic wool. There are masses of other covetable goodies and the website promises to deliver by Christmas if you order by Tuesday 20 December and pay for next day delivery. Your healthy holiday checklist Keep a well-stocked first-aid kit such as Boots Pharmaceuticals St John Ambulance Complete First Aid Kit (£19.99, boots.com ). Consider a dental repair kit for a lost filling or loose-cap repair. We like Dentek Dental First Aid Kit (£7.65, superdrug.com ). Dr Rob Hicks ( drrobhicks.co.uk ) says: Q My daughter, aged eight, suffers from inflammation round the outside of her vagina, which is not responding to the doctor’s treatment for thrush. A The irritation may be a reaction to ingredients in cleansing body products, including bubble bath and gel wash. Pharmacist Shabir Daya recommends trying Salcura Bioskin Junior products, which use natural oils to soothe sore inflamed skin and include Face & Body Wash (£8.99), Bath Milk (£9.99) and a topical Outbreak Rescue Cream (£9.99, all victoriahealth.com ). Email your questions to [email protected]

2016-12-17 20:03 Sarah Stacey www.dailymail.co.uk

56 /99 5.6 Interiors: All spruced up The perfect setting for a magical Christmas? Interior designer EMMA POCOCK’s cool-but-cosy family chalet in the French Alps When interior designer Emma Pocock moved to Geneva last year with her husband Ben and two children, ‘the deal was to sell our house in London and buy something smaller so we could buy a chalet here for weekend, summer and ski escapes,’ says Emma. ‘The chalet, named La Bergeronnette (French for wagtail), is only an hour and 20 minutes from the city. The village has the perfect feel of a holiday resort where everyone is happy and here to have fun. 'The chalet had belonged to the same family since 1905 and had been added to over many years, but it wasn’t very pretty when we moved in. We took out everything except the beams in the roof and then reconfigured what had been two apartments, an outside staircase and an existing outbuilding, replacing all internal walls and the roof to create a modern family home.’ Emma loves the clean, fresh Scandinavian aesthetic but has added warmth with accessories in neutral tones and pops of colour that have become a Turner Pocock signature. ‘We clad walls and ceilings with white tongue-and-groove timber, and sandblasted the existing beams back to their original finish to make the rooms feel light, bright and bigger than if we’d worked with a traditional chalet style,’ she says. ‘I didn’t want it to feel clichéd.’ Emma is not usually a fan of an open- plan layout but loves the double sitting room with the combined kitchen and dining room that run the width of the house: ‘It provides enough sitting space for 12 people to read, snooze and watch TV without feeling as though they’re on top of one another.’ What does Emma like to do at Christmas? ‘If we’re not dressing the children in extreme weather gear to hit the slopes, I love doing arts and crafts with them. It’s about having fun and creating special memories of a magical childhood in the Alps.’ Emma also loves to fill the house with the scents of pine, orange, cinnamon and clove. ‘Then I try to relish how the festive season brings the chance to step off the hamster wheel for a moment and sit back, relax and breathe,’ she says. instagram.com/turnerpocock

2016-12-17 20:03 Fiona Mccarthy www.dailymail.co.uk

57 /99 14.3 Fashion: Glow with the Flow Dazzle in floor-length jewel- rich reds Photographer Jenny Brough Fashion Editor Philippa Bloom Fashion assistant Emily Dawes Make- up Shama at One Represents using Bobbi Brown Hair Choccy at One Represents using Bumble and Bumble Model Sofie Theobald at the Hive Producer Lucy Coghlan The YOU fashion team stayed at Hotel Kompas, Lapad Bay, Croatia, two miles from Dubrovnik’s medieval old town. From €113 a night, adriaticluxuryhotels.com Stockists Alberta Ferretti, albertaferretti.com Elie Saab, eliesaab.com H&M, hm.com Konplott, konplott.com Magda Butrym, magdabutrym.com Manolo Blahnik, manoloblahnik.com Pomme London, pommepommelondon.com Prada, 020 7235 0008 Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, preenbythornton bregazzi.com Roger Vivier, rogervivier.com Sportmax, 020 7499 7902

2016-12-17 20:02 Philippa Bloom www.dailymail.co.uk

58 /99 58 /99 6.7 Spotlight on Royal Ballet principal Akane Takada Royal Ballet principal Akane is our Christmas Sleeping Beauty Who? This week, 26- year-old Akane from Tokyo takes to the stage in the 70th- anniversary production of the Royal Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty – first performed by the company when the Royal Opera House reopened after the Second World War. Since joining the company in 2009, Akane has gained plaudits for her precision and grace in classics such as Swan Lake and Onegin. Big break Akane started dancing when she was three and first performed on stage at five. But her future career was almost cut short aged 12 when she tore a ligament in her knee. ‘I thought I might never dance again,’ she says. Luckily, she recovered and, four years later, won a place at Russia’s prestigious Bolshoi Ballet Academy. In 2008, she danced with the Royal Ballet on a scholarship and, in 2014, stepped in after Natalia Osipova fell during a performance of Don Quixote. Akane earned rave reviews and became a principal dancer this summer. The big idea? Expect this production of The Sleeping Beauty – classic Petipa choreography with Tchaikovsky’s score – to be enchanting and lavish. Akane, one of the dancers playing Princess Aurora, is particularly excited about her gold and white tutu. What next? Akane will play the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker from 31 December. The Sleeping Beauty is at the Royal Opera House from Wednesday to 14 March, roh.org.uk

2016-12-17 20:02 Laura Silverman www.dailymail.co.uk

59 /99 2.5 BEAUTY CLINIC: Supplements to brighten older faces Jo and Sarah answer real questions from readers: to put your query, go to beautybible.com Q Can you suggest a good supplement to help skin quality please? I am mid-40s and my complexion is beginning to show signs of ageing - a few more lines, a bit more sagging etc. Also in the winter it always seems to look less bright and supple. A Before we get on to targeted supplements, we know you know all the basics - but they bear repeating. Your skin and of course your whole body and brain will thrive on good fresh food – which you eat slowly sitting down (not a sandwich in your hand as you rush around) - with plenty of oily fish, nuts and seeds, vegetables and fruit, plus lots of still water (preferably room temperature or at this time of year as herbal tea), sipped not glugged. Regarding supplements, we consulted pharmacist Shabir Daya at Victoria Health who proposed the following options to help boost the texture and tone of the skin: Solgar Anti-Ageing Restore and its partner Renewal. Restore is a Collagen Hyaluronic Acid Complex, which has been shown to reduce fine lines and wrinkles as well as skin dryness. Renewal is based on Nutri-Nano CoQ-10, which helps replace co-enzyme Q-10, an antioxidant that helps cells regenerate but is depleted as we age. As Shabir says, ‘this makes sense in terms of skin plumping and providing fuel for regeneration’. Turmeric is a multi-active nutrient (the golden spice of India) and is a new buzzword in skin enhancement. Shabir says ‘many people report a brighter complexion since it may clear toxins from the bloodstream and it helps alleviate acne too’. Turmeric is also a potent anti-inflammatory, which helps all manner of aches and pains and might benefit inflammatory skin problems such as rosacea. Pukka Herbs Wholistic Organic Turmeric, £15.95 for 30 capsules, and Turmeric Gold tea bags , which combine Indian turmeric, Sicilian lemon and green tea, £4.78/40 sachets. Vitamin C is known to enhance collagen manufacture but do use a non-acidic version, recommends Shabir. We like Altrient C, a high dose gel that comes in a daily sachet. One tester found combining Altrient C with a spoonful of Super Elixir, Elle Macpherson’s green food supplement, in a glass of coconut water led to super- radiant skin that elicited a lot of compliments. Omega-3 essential fatty acids help restore natural fats in skin and thus improve skin elasticity so, if you don't include oily fish, nuts and seeds and plenty of fats in your diet, do consider a supplement such as IdealOmega 3, £35.98 for 60 capsules (one a day). Making sure you have an optimal daily intake of vitamins and minerals is vital so consider a supplement such as Viridian Nutrition Woman 40+ Multi, £24.95 for 60 capsules. Finally, we have had noticeable results from taking Sarah Chapman Overnight Facial Supplement, £46 for 30 days supply. Sarah recommends taking these anti-ageing nutrients, packaged in a capsule and a tablet, at night when skin regeneration occurs, with Omega+ Booster Supplement, £28 for 90 capsules. As well as nutrients to boost your skin, Overnight Facial offers concentrated lavender, hops, vitamin B6 and magnesium to help sleep quality. Beauty Bible loves… Alexander McQueen Bath & Body, from £59 for 250ml for Shower Gel or Body Lotion to £75 for 180ml for Rich Body Cream. Still struggling for a gift for that fashionista on your list…? Here’s an alternative to scarf/costume jewellery/furry handbag dingly-dangly thing: something (or everything) from the spectacularly chic Alexander McQueen pampering collection, infused with the signature scent from one of Britain’s best-loved designer names. If they love tuberose they will ADORE this fragrance, in which that white flower pulses alongside other night-bloomers. It’s elegant yet sexy – and we think the bodycare is a lovely (and slightly more subtle) way to wear it. The packaging for this is seriously, satisfyingly hefty and chic. And trust us: all the most fashionable dressing tables are wearing it. For more information follow Beauty Bible online here , or on Twitter and Facebook

2016-12-17 20:02 Jo Fairley www.dailymail.co.uk

60 /99 3.0 Toronto mascot drops gift-wrapped television down stairs TORONTO -- An incident on the sidelines may have only added insult to injury on Friday for the Raptors after their 125-121 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

We can only say that we hope it was scripted: The Raptor, the mascot of his namesake team, is shown in a video walking down the steps with a large gift-wrapped box when he suddenly stumbles. The bottom of the box opens and out slides a big screen TV that quickly smashes into the steps. The Raptor stops and stands, in defeat, watching the television slide down the walkway.

As with many sideline antics, this may very well have all been part of the show. Let's just hope so. Otherwise, someone better hope the warranty is still in the box.

That can't be good. #WeTheNorth

A video posted by Toronto Raptors (@raptors) on Dec 16, 2016 at 5:00pm PST

(© 2016 WXIA)

2016-12-17 20:01 Christopher Buchanan rssfeeds.11alive.com

61 /99 1.4 Drone Delivery: Amazon Chose UK Over US Due To Regulations Amazon completed its first drone delivery Wednesday in the U. K. and not in the U. S., marking the debut of its comprehensive unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) shipping service.

This was a direct manifestation of America’s burdensome regulations, which seem to be forcing Amazon , and other businesses, to take their drone technology abroad.

“The fact that Amazon chose to go overseas to experiment with drone delivery is totally unsurprising. FAA rules prohibit drone flights that are entirely autonomous or beyond the line of sight of human operators,” Eli Dourado, the director of the Technology Policy Program at the Mercatus Center, told The Daily Caller News Foundation (TheDCNF), alluding to the fact that UAV operators in America have to be within direct control and direct eye sight of the drone. “The UK and several other countries have taken more pro-innovation regulatory positions. Really, Amazon had no other choice than to do these tests abroad.”

Dourado and Ryan Hagemann, technology and civil liberties policy analyst at the Niskanen Center, pin much of the blame on the FAA’s overarching skeptical view of such technology as a problem. (RELATED: Operating A Drone For Profit Is Illegal Unless You Satisfy Tons Of Govt Rules)

Dourado referred to it as “a culture of complacency,” and Hagemann calls it a “dragging” of the feet, saying that America not only has a relatively poor regulatory framework , but also didn’t come up with a framework in a timely manner.

“Research, development, and testing of drones started going overseas years ago as a result of the FAA dragging its feet on establishing clear rules for commercial operations,” Hagemann told TheDCNF.

“Once the agency finally released its rules, most of the major companies looking into large-scale commercial drone operations were already committed to Canada, the U. K., and elsewhere.”

Amazon, the supply chain and retail company delivered an Amazon Fire TV stick and a bag of popcorn to a customer in Cambridge, U. K., according to the Daily Mirror.

It apparently only took 13 minutes from the moment the purchase button was clicked to having the order in the consumer’s hands.

First-ever #AmazonPrimeAir customer delivery is in the books. 13 min—click to delivery. Check out the video: https://t.co/Xl8HiQMA1S pic.twitter.com/5HGsmHvPlE

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) December 14, 2016

“The UK is a leader in enabling drone innovation – we’ve been investing in Prime Air research and development here for quite some time,” Paul Misener, Amazon’s Vice President of Global Innovation Policy and Communications, said, according to the Daily Mirror.

“The UK is charting a path forward for drone technology that will benefit consumers, industry and society,” he continued.

This milestone in drone technology could have happened in America, but Amazon chose the country with a regulatory climate that is more conducive to proper UAV testing and subsequent application.

“US based companies want to innovate, but this is yet another case where agencies stand in the way of progress,” Will Rinehart, director of technology and innovation policy at American Action Forum, told TheDCNF.

Dourado suggests that the FDA “aggressively purge the culture of complacency at the FAA” and that “Congress should give the FAA a mandate to pursue innovation.” (RELATED: The FAA Is Fining A Man $55,000 For Flying His Drone)

“Aside from operationalizing commercial drones, the United States is still a major leader in new emerging technology deployment,” Hagemann continued, referencing autonomous and semi- autonomous vehicles.

While UAVs and their implementation into distribution services may not be a completely lost prospect for the U. S., the country is surely behind in the race. (RELATED: 65-Year-Old Woman Obliterates Drone Hovering Over Her Property)

“Drones are the biggest example of an emerging technology that has off-shored from the United States simply because of the regulatory strictures in place,” Hagemann explained. Follow Eric on Twitter

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2016-12-17 19:57 Eric Lieberman dailycaller.com

62 /99 3.2 Kayla Itsines workout plan leads to amazing body transformation Exchange student Helena Campbell is proof that the key to looking toned and trim isn't always losing weight. The 20- year-old from the United Kingdom, who is currently in Australia, transformed her figure after putting on 1.5 kilograms through her dedicated exercise regime. After going from 67 kgs to 68.5 kgs, her message to other young girls looking to get healthy and fit is to 'throw away those scales'. Ms Campbell began her own fitness journey in 2015 after stumbling across the 'exercise movement' of renowned personal trainer Kayla Itsines. She has shared her progress on her Instagram page , where she has close to 23,000 followers. 'I had been feeling unhealthy and unhappy in myself and my body for quite a while so I decided it was time to actually do something about it instead of feeling sorry for myself,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'I wanted to feel happier, healthier and stronger and from seeing great reviews and transformations from people who had done her [Kayla's] guides, I decided I might as well give it a try.' Ms Campbell, who is currently on exchange at the University of Adelaide, said she had never focused solely on losing weight. 'I initially thought that seeing results and weight loss went hand in hand but it was never my aim to lose weight or reach a certain goal weight,' she said. 'Growing up my mum always told me that the scales didn't mean anything and should not dictate your feelings or worth.' Instead, she had used other measures to monitor her progress. 'It was more important to focus on things such as how you feel in yourself or how you feel in your clothes, which is how I've partly based my progress the last couple of years,' she said. 'I now definitely realise that there does not have to be a correlation between losing weight and seeing results as by gaining weight, I have definitely seen results.' By living a balanced lifestyle, Ms Campbell said she did not need to feel guilty about indulging in the occasional treat. 'With my food, I try and eat a balanced diet. I eat roughly 2,200 calories a day and it's a variety of all types of food. I try to eat lots of lean meat, carbohydrates, fruit, eggs and vegetables,' she said. 'But I definitely still enjoy my sweets and chocolate. I still eat chocolate every day - just not on the large scale that I used to!' She had a simple piece of advice for young women looking to make a similar change in their lives is - 'find something you love'. 'That could be from lifting weights to running to finding a new sport. There is no ''one program fits all'' type thing,' she said. 'Plus please don't base your success and progress just on the number on the scale. Instead, also focus on how you feel in yourself.'

2016-12-17 19:56 Lauren Grounsell www.dailymail.co.uk

63 /99 2.8 More millenials are skipping college and choosing blue collar jobs instead For years, the idea of going to college, getting a degree and parlaying that into a stable career was widely accepted as the best possible route for most young people...

2016-12-17 19:51 system article.wn.com

64 /99 0.0 Ethiopia opens massive Gibe 3 hydroelectric dam on Omo River ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia has officially opened the Gibe 3 hydroelectric dam, which is among the biggest in Africa, despite concerns by environmentalists about its impact downstream and upon neighboring countries. ...

2016-12-17 19:51 system article.wn.com

65 /99 1.7 Khamenei slams UK for describing Iran as regional threat TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has harshly criticized U. K. Prime Minister Theresa May's recent comments about Iran posing a threat to the region. ...

2016-12-17 19:51 system article.wn.com

66 /99 66 /99 2.5 3 billionaires name the novels that most inspired them Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos share the fiction titles that most shaped their thinking.

Running a billion-dollar business empire is nothing if not time-consuming, so you can be pretty sure that the men and women atop these companies only spend their time on activities that offer rich rewards. Perhaps you'd be shocked to know that, for many of the world's top entrepreneurs and execs, that includes reading novels.

More From Inc.com: Top 15 Companies to Watch in 2017

Even President Obama, who is perhaps the No. 1 example of a guy with too much on his plate, swears by fiction. "When I think about how I understand my role as citizen, setting aside being president, and the most important set of understandings that I bring to that position of citizen, the most important stuff I've learned I think I've learned from novels," he told The New York Review of Books.

Which books exactly do the super successful recommend to reap all the EQ-boosting , perspective-shifting, empathy-expanding potential of novels? Blog Farnam Street recently did readers a favor by compiling several billionaires' favorite fiction reads into one long list. Here are a few examples:

You probably had to read F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic in high school, but chances are decent you haven't picked it up since. That's not the case with Bill and Melinda Gates. The Microsoft founder calls it, "the novel that I re-read the most. Melinda and I love one line so much that we had it painted on a wall in our house: 'His dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it.'"

The story of a reserved English butler slowly coming to terms with his dark past, The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro clearly touched a nerve with the Amazon founder. "If you read The Remains of the Day , which is my favorite book of all time, you can't help but come away and think, I just spent 10 hours living an alternate life and I learned something about life and about regret. " (Full disclosure: It's one of my personal favorites too.)

This sci-fi trilogy by Isaac Asimov has had a huge influence on the thinking of Elon Musk. According to Farnam Street, the book taught him that "the lessons of history would suggest that civilizations move in cycles. You can track that back quite far -- the Babylonians, the Sumerians, followed by the Egyptians, the Romans, China. We're obviously in a very upward cycle right now and hopefully that remains the case. But it may not. There could be some series of events that cause that technology level to decline. "

Musk has also mentioned The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as one of his favorite reads, claiming it taught him that "the question is harder than the answer. When we ask questions, they come along with our biases. You should really ask, 'Is this the right question?' And that's hard to figure out. "

Check out the complete post for several more titans of business recommending their favorite fiction.

Now see the 16 best books of 2016:

Which novel has had the most profound effect on your own thinking?

2016-12-17 19:50 AOL Staff www.aol.com

67 /99 0.0 Meet the woman who FORAGES for her own food on Queensland's Sunshine Coast If you've ever wanted to get in touch with nature without straying too far from home, foraging for food in your own neighbourhood could be for you. Aimee Clark, 33, from Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast, began to research the concept out of interest before venturing out to forage for weeds, wild plants and even bugs. Now, she's embraced it as a way to sample the more unusual foods available in your own backyard and is teaching others to do the same. But while she praises the benefits of foraging, Ms Clark is keen for others to understand that her entire diet doesn't consist of found foods. 'A lot of people don't realise you can eat a lot of stuff out there,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'But they can't be your entire diet, it would upset your stomach. 'It's not all I eat, I still go to the supermarket to buy carrots.' Delicacies in the wild include edible plants like warrigal greens (sea spinach) and chickweed as well as bugs, such as ants, crickets and scorpions. However, Ms Clark says she rarely eats bugs as they're more difficult to find. 'My biggest advice to people would be to research. Some things are dangerous and could be poisonous or you could mistake something for something else,' she said. 'Some things you have to cook and some things you can eat raw.' She says learning about foraging will help people appreciate the environment more and take care of it. 'It's an empowering experience to go out and find your own food,' she said. 'You feel so connected to the environment. I think it's so powerful and special and it really teaches you a new way of looking at the environment and taking care of it.' She now holds foraging tours teaching local residents where to find wild foods and how to cook or prepare them. 2016-12-17 19:46 Khaleda Rahman www.dailymail.co.uk

68 /99 0.5 A scent of bigamy & betrayal: Perfume tycoon Jo Malone's inspiring memoir is a bestseller. But angry relatives say that a few not-so-fragrant chapters are missing... The scented lotions, potions and candles of Jo Malone have become quite a fixture in the middle-class Christmas – and a very profitable one, too. This year, devotees of her signature lime, basil and mandarin fragrance may well be hoping for a copy of Jo’s gritty new autobiography My Story, a frank account of her remarkable rise from a council house childhood to the heights of international business. Released in October in time for the Christmas market, the £12.50 hardback features Jo herself, dressed in white, on the cover – the same clean look you find in the discreetly perfumed shops that bear her name. (The book is branded, with typical care, to match the colours of her new Jo Loves range.) It is little wonder that My Story sits at number three in the bestseller lists – her tale of success based on hard work and determination has made for a popular and inspiring read. Today, aged 53, Jo Malone MBE has left her humble beginnings in suburban Bexleyheath, South-East London, far behind. She lives with Gary, her husband and business partner, and their son in one of the most exclusive addresses in Chelsea. She will never again be short of money, having sold her business – and name – to American cosmetic giant Estée Lauder for ‘undisclosed millions’ in 1999, before setting up Jo Loves. On the way, she has fought cancer. Yet an investigation by The Mail on Sunday suggests that readers leafing through the pages of My Story on Christmas morning might not be getting quite the comprehensive picture it seems to promise. Indeed, to those who have known the Malone family for many years, one or two chapters are missing altogether. For example, they say that rather too little credit is given to Jo’s late mother Eileen, a society beautician with a ‘magical’ touch, who sold a handmade range of scented creams and lotions to an extraordinary list of customers and clients, including Princess Diana, Princess Alexandra, the Duchess of York, designer Cath Kidston and Cara Delevingne’s mother, Pandora. Another missing element from the bestselling memoir is the traumatic falling- out with her younger sister, Tracey, who drank herself to death and who became estranged from Jo over her ambitions to leave the family business and set up her own company. Perhaps the most remarkable omission involves the turbulent life of her father Andy Malone, who was convicted of bigamy after abandoning his first wife and two children in Scotland and marrying Jo’s mother illegally. Here, then, we present the missing chapters of, what by any standards, is a quite remarkable story… Chapter One The Bigamist Father... And A Secret Sister Jo’s autobiography barely documents the death of her father, Andy, in 2007. She admits that he had a previous name, Frank, but little more than that. In fact, the official records show that Malone’s mother Eileen married a man called Frank Malone not once, but twice – in 1962 and 1969. What could explain the mystery? The Mail on Sunday has established that Jo’s father Andy Malone was actually called Frank Monks. He was born in Edinburgh in 1926. Monks had already been married to a woman called Jean Watson Stirrat in Edinburgh in March 1952, two months after the birth of their first child, Rosalind. In July 1953, they had their second child Paul, after which he abandoned his family and headed south. However, the records show that Monks did not divorce Jean until 1967 – five years after a bigamous marriage to Eileen. They married again, legally, in 1969. Jo was born in 1963 and her sister Tracey in 1968. Frank’s two separate families have never met – though not for want of trying. We tracked down Frank’s daughter by his first marriage, Rosalind Winters, to her home in Sydney, from where she said: ‘I know all about Jo and our connection because I hired a private eye five or six years ago to try to find my father, who I had not seen since I was seven. ‘My father left home, went to London and ended up meeting Jo’s mum, who knew he had a family. He married Jo’s mother before he was divorced from my mother. ‘Sadly, I was too late to meet him, and had never heard of Jo Malone when the investigator told me he had spoken to her. I did ask her to send me some photographs because I wanted to know what he looked like. I spent nearly a year emailing her and then she eventually did it through her lawyer.’ Jo, it seems, was not enthusiastic. ‘I had to send my birth certificate, so they could see my father’s name and she made me sign a lawyer’s letter before she gave me the photos. She was really quite off. She doesn’t want anybody to know about it. It’s a shame because my brother Paul would gladly go and see her. They look alike – you can see they are related.’ Chapter Two The Row Over The Business AT THE heart of Jo Malone’s autobiography is a wonderful rags-to-riches story, which has her starting out in business by mixing skin creams and bath oils at home. By Jo’s own admission her parents had a combustible relationship and her unemployed father’s gambling left the family finances in a precarious position, leaving Eileen as the breadwinner. Eventually, she found work with a charismatic and successful British beauty therapist who went under the exotic name of Madame Lubatti. Since the late 1920s, she had made her own range of skin creams featuring plant and fruit extracts in her London flat, and boasted clients such as Ava Gardner and Vivien Leigh as well as London society figures drawn to her exclusive potions and facial massages. But in the mid-1970s, Madame Lubatti’s health began to deteriorate and, according to Jo in her book, her mother inherited the business – and the recipes for the creams. Eileen rapidly built up a formidable reputation for her ‘magical’ touch with clients. As the elder of the two daughters, Jo stepped in to help in the 1980s when her mother became ill. Younger sister Tracey joined the business as soon as she left school. By Jo’s account, her mother’s illness caused her to become ill-tempered. ‘I wasn’t prepared for the more hostile change in character… the more skilled I became and the more clients I bought in, the more fault she found with my work,’ she writes in her book. Her mother ‘crossed the line’ when she threw a tantrum and, with it, a jug: ‘I splintered from my family then, and Dad and Tracey drifted away with Mum… my parents and sister effectively disappeared from my life. Mum couldn’t forgive me for going it alone and, when resentment sets in, it can erode relationships.’ However, many of Eileen Malone’s well-connected friends believe this was not the only factor – and that the main fallout was because Jo wanted to market the family beauty potions to a wider audience, while her mother wanted to concentrate on her existing list of exclusive clients. Laura Jane Ogilvy – a client and close confidante of Eileen and Tracey Malone – said that mother and daughter had felt let down by Jo’s marketing of the beauty recipes, themselves preferring to deal with a small and rather private clientele. ‘Eileen felt betrayed,’ said Laura Jane. ‘Ultimately, Jo took the knowledge and skills she had learned from her mother and made a conscious decision to make that into money. Isn’t that betrayal? Tracey confided in me all the time: she was not happy with her relationship with her sister.’ Not, Jo might respond, that there is anything wrong with making money. Laura Jane suggests that, following Eileen’s death in 2011, many of her friends were furious that the funeral seemed to be a private family affair. ‘Tracey called up in floods of tears. My own view is that Jo did not want us, her mother’s friends, at her mother’s funeral,’ she said. There is no doubting there was ill-feeling at the time; in her book Jo recalls being spat at by one of her mother’s clients – but insists that claims she had mistreated Eileen were a ‘myth’. Another aristocratic grande dame, who asked not to be named, said: ‘My mother introduced me to Madame Lubatti when I was 17. She made up wonderful creams – the best skins in London were done by her. Eileen started as one of her girls, but eventually took over the business.’ She continued: ‘I fell out quite badly with Jo when she went off and set up her business. At the time, I was furious. All the people who loved Eileen were. I admire the fact that Jo made such a success of her business. But she did take clients with her. Tracey and Jo were such different characters: Jo was very intelligent, very driven, business-minded and tough, while Tracey was a trusting, simple soul who saw the best in everyone. It is a sad tale because the three of them could have conquered the world.’ Chapter Three The Rift With Her Sister Of all the sad chapters in Jo’s life, perhaps the most upsetting is the rift with her sister. The man probably best placed to observe the split is Tracey’s widower Luis Mariano, who has a fractious relationship with his sister-in-law and is something of a broken man since his wife’s death – he has been plagued with health problems. He says he complained to Jo about what he thought were inaccuracies in her autobiography, which, he claims, led to a visit by the police. Luis, who reluctantly accepted a caution, said: ‘All I did was to write to Jo Malone to tell her that I was disgusted by the book – particularly by the fact that she has completely failed to give her mother the credit she deserves. ‘The next thing I know, I have the police knocking on my door because, I was told, Jo has claimed I was harassing her – which I was not. I think she is trying to shut me up, but I will not be intimidated by her, her reputation, her lawyers or her money. ‘She has had her say, but I have not had mine. More importantly, Eileen and Tracey cannot give their side of the story because they are dead. It is my job to speak up for them. I am one of the few people alive who knows the full truth.’ Luis is not, of course, an impartial witness. But he is clear in his recollection of the bitterness between Jo and her mother at the time, saying: ‘The atmosphere was hostile, in the sense that Eileen was the master and Jo was the student – then the student started disagreeing with the master. ‘Jo wanted the business to branch out and Eileen was focused on, “what we do best, facials and face creams”. She said bath oils and body lotions were all very well, but you must focus on the fundamentals. ‘Jo makes out she was pushed out, but she pushed them away. There could have been compromises instead of that terrible family break. Jo was effectively saying, “I’m all right, Jack. See you later.” She took a lot of the clients with her and that hit Eileen and Tracey’s business.’ In her book, Jo admits that she never healed the rift with her family, though says she supported her mother, who suffered from dementia at the end of her life, writing: ‘I would face the saddest task of saying goodbye to my mum, dad and sister, who would all pass away within the space of 18 months.’ The book adds: ‘I remember sitting by Tracey’s hospital bed while she was in intensive care at the end of a long period of sickness and, as I held her hand, all I thought about was how much I wished things could have been different.’ What Jo neglects to mention is that her younger sister was in hospital because of her alcoholism, which Luis says was exacerbated by her unhappiness, and which by 2011 was beginning to spiral out of control. Luis recalls: ‘In 2010, Tracey had collapsed and fell into a coma. I contacted Jo and she turned up. Tracey was initially angry with me, but they did develop some kind of relationship and I think they met a few times. ‘Why she doesn’t mention that in the book is pretty strange. ‘Eventually I think they broke it off. Jo was very busy and Tracey was focusing on trying to get investors for her own business. They want back to being Tracey and Jo.’ Tracey died in 2012 and many of her former clients attended the funeral. Laura Jane Ogilvy says: ‘None of us was allowed to go to her mother Eileen’s funeral and that is why so many went to Tracey’s, to give our final respects to these two women.’ Luis is quick to credit Jo for offering him support in the wake of Tracey’s death, as well as funding the funerals of Tracey and Eileen, but when he suffered a breakdown, the initial goodwill ran out. Now living in a hostel, Luis is struggling to put his life back together after the loss of his wife. He said: ‘Tracey and I had our plans for the future, but now they will never be realised. ‘Tracey and Eileen always believed in being discreet and protecting their clients and the Malone family name. That is why they always refused to speak out when Jo gave interviews in the press. Eileen felt, rightly or wrongly, that Jo had turned her back on the family. But she always loved her. ‘All Tracey ever wanted was to have a relationship with her sister.’

2016-12-17 19:33 Adam Luck www.dailymail.co.uk

69 /99 7.1 Festive weekend getaway in the Western Galilee The “Western Galilee Now” Foundation, an association that aims to bring together boutique businesses in the Western Galilee and promote tourism and recreation in the region, is hosting its fifth annual winter holiday festival December 22 to December 24. A cooperative effort between local businesses, this Christmas and Hanukka Festival offers visitors a taste of the Western Galilee’s finest attractions. The three-day festival includes more than 30 events. Visitors can take part in culinary workshops, craft workshops led by artists, musical tours in churches, group singing and storytelling evenings, meals and feasts, tours and more.

ON EITHER end of the journey, make sure to stop by Acre’s Old City. There you will find a bustling market, beautiful historic buildings, a seaside promenade by the port and delicious food. One great dining spot is Kukushka, situated in the renovated Turkish bazaar. This “premium snack bar” offers exceptional fresh and original street food. Indulge in the blue crab falafel, unlike any other falafel you have tasted, or in the delicious herb-marinated shrimp skewers. If you’re not a seafood lover, go for the moist Spanish burger, Greek-inspired beef souvlaki or homemade sausages. Don’t forget to try Kukushka’s boutique house beer made by Malka breweries, and have a chat with the incredibly friendly owners Maya and Gil Roditi. With the prices so reasonable, this is a great activity. Opening hours: Monday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Info: (04) 901-9758

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A CONCERT and tour event takes place in Acre on Saturday, December 24, as part of the festival. Enjoy a performance by the Naama Women’s Choir at JNF’s Western Galilee Tourist Information Center followed by a tour of the Old City’s alleyways. The center, which resides in a beautiful historic building, is operated by the Western Galilee Now Foundation and offers visitors information about special activities, wineries, restaurants, bed and breakfasts and help with planning an unforgettable one-ofa- kind trip in the area. Concert and tour: 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; NIS 80 for concert only (NIS 90 on day of concert); NIS 130 for concert and tour (NIS 140 on day of concert and tour); half price for children. Information and reservations: (04) 601-5533 or westgalil.org.il. Tourist Information Center opening hours: Sunday to Thursday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m Info: (04) 601-5533. ON THURSDAY, December 22, an event called “Flavors, Stories, Lights” will be taking place. First, a tour of the Christian village Mi’ilya with tour guide Ayelet Bar Meir will take visitors for a stroll down the village’s Christmas-decorated side streets and alleys. Participants will learn about the history of the area, visit the old Crusader fortress and church courtyard, see the impressive decorated Christmas tree and take part in a Christmas singing event. Following the festive tour, visitors are in for a unique dining experience in the adjacent town, Mitzpe Hila. La Pampa restaurant is located in the beautiful terrace of Ilanit and Eran Tabenchik’s home, which offers a stunning view, even at night. The restaurant has a fixed menu, with the focal point being their delicious smoked meat. The dining experience is slow-paced and relaxed. Eran, a native of Argentina, passionately prepares Argentinian food with hints of Galilean flavors. First, diners are given a warm loaf of bread with dips and an eggplant salad, then homemade empanadas and moist smoked chorizo sausages. The diners are given time to savor the starters before the real treat arrives – a large platter of smoked cuts of meat, smoked potatoes and sweet potatoes. The cuts of meat, which vary from week to week, lie in the smoker for many hours, resulting in a slow rendering of fat, succulent meat and a distinct yet not overpowering smoky flavor. For dessert there is a choice between alternating deserts.

Ilanit and Eran are very warm, and can be seen walking around and getting to know all the guests. It is clear they care deeply about creating an enjoyable experience for diners. As part of the festival, visitors will enjoy not only the meal but also hear Galilean tales about people, legends and flavors. On Friday, December 23 La Pampa will host an evening of dining and wining in cooperation with Kishor Winery also as part of the festival. The tour starts at 6 p.m. NIS 200-220; Reservations: La Pampa 052-295-1177 or westgalil.org.il via the festival schedule under the events tab. IF YOU’RE looking for an outdoor activity in the Western Galilee that doesn’t require tramping by foot across the hilly terrain, a jeep tour is a great option. On December 24, Rimoney Hagalil, a company specializing in outdoor activities and jeep tours, is offering a special jeep tour of the Ga’aton River area for a reduced price for festival guests. Participants will cross the river, drive up to the beautiful Sursock Farm mansion next to the Ga’aton springs and hear the history of the place and the people who lived there. The tour will continue further up the riverbed through a thick grove with unique Arbutus trees. Rimoney Hagalil also operate guest rooms in Kibbutz Yehiam’s “Nature in Yehiam,” which includes a kosher kitchen, swimming pool and breakfast. Tours leave at 9:30 a.m., 10:40 a.m. and noon. Each tour is approximately an hour and 15 minutes. NIS 75 per person for the jeep tour (minimum participants required); NIS 265 for a night in a double room with breakfast and the jeep tour included. Information and reservations: (04) 952-4566 or westgalil.org.il via the festival schedule under the events tab.

YUVAL AND Mira Telem’s Rushka Gallery in Matat showcases Yuval’s metal work and is home to Rushka’s Café, offering freshly prepared vegetarian dishes with a stunning view spreading from the Carmel mountains, to the Upper Galilee mountains and even to the Golan Heights and the Hermon. Visitors are welcome to stop by Yuval’s workshop and see him in action. Yuval also teaches private and group workshops, if you book in advance. Telem is a blacksmith with some 30 years of experience who creates both artistic pieces and what he calls “practical art” – bed frames, chairs and tables and much more. His pieces are sold all over Israel and abroad. The couple operate guest rooms and invite people to stay at their property and enjoy a special metalworking workshop and the beautiful view. During the festival on December 22, the gallery, in collaboration with Ma’ale Yosef Community Center, will host an evening in memory of Nachum Heiman, who died this past year. Nachum, or Nakhche, composed many songs that have become classics and part of the history of Israeli folk music. Participants will sing his songs along with singer Dorit Farkash while enjoying coffee, tea and light snacks. 8:30 p.m. NIS 50. Information and reservations: 054- 437-1414/5 or westgalil.org.il via the festival schedule under the events tab. Café and gallery opening hours: Fridays 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Guests are welcome to visit the gallery during the week by coordinating with Yuval and Mira in advance.

NOT FAR from Matat is Kibbutz Sasa, where you will find Buza’s (ice cream in Arabic) workshop, store and factory. Buza produces fresh, seasonal, local Galilean ice cream that is a collaboration between owners Alaa Sweetat, a Muslim from Tarshicha and Adam Ziv, a Jew from Kibbutz Sasa. Try one of their unique flavors such as Cashew-pia-vanilla ice cream with cashews and salted toffee. They also sell winter treats such as sachlav, “the hot chocolate of the Middle East.” Workshops for children and tours of the factory in Kibbutz Sasa are available with advanced booking. Buza has stores in Ma’alot Tarshica, Hula Valley and Tel Aviv (for those who can’t make it up north). Information: Buzaisrael.co.il

IF YOU plan on attending the festival with your family, or if you’re visiting the Western Galilee on any other occasion with your family, Bar-On Family Holiday Homes in Moshav Ben Ami is the perfect accommodation. The property offers four modern, well-decorated and clean villas that can host up to eight people each. The villas include a fully equipped kitchen, laundry and washing machine, TV, WiFi and even board games. You will also find an entertainment center on site with a pool table, ping-pong, life-size checker board and a huge trampoline. The center is perfect for a mini-event, such as a birthday celebration. Guests can cook in the fully equipped kitchen or cook out on the BBQ. Bar-On also offers delicious breakfasts prepared by Chef Yaron Chen. Owner Amit Bar-On will make sure your stay is as comfortable as can be and is always happy to give great recommendations. From NIS 500 per night, minimum of two nights. Third night is free until January 31. Reservations: www.barfam.com

The writer was a guest of the Western Galilee Now Foundation.

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2016-12-17 19:32 Sharon Aharoni www.jpost.com

70 /99 5.6 NFL notebook: Bates, on Pats practice squad, gets salary boost FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — NFL rookie Trevor Bates, the Westbrook native and former player at the University of Maine, is making a good impression as a member of the New England Patriots practice squad.

Bates joined the practice squad Nov. 8. According the ESPN, he was paid the minimum of $6,900 per week, and this week he got a raise to $18,000 per week.

The Jets-Dolphins game on Saturday night did not end before deadline. For results see pressherald.com/sports

Bates was as a seventh-round draft choice of the Indianapolis. The 6-foot-1, 247-pound Bates played in one regular-season game for the Colts, mostly on special teams.

VIKINGS: Adrian Peterson has always called himself a quick healer. Now he says he’s ready to come back from his latest knee surgery even sooner than he originally thought.

Peterson told Dash Radio on Friday that he plans to return to the Minnesota Vikings backfield on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. His surprise announcement comes four days after he reiterated that he was targeting the game against Green Bay on Dec. 24 as his first game back after having surgery on a torn meniscus in his right knee.

“It really boils down to how I feel,” Peterson told the internet radio station, of which he is an investor. What it really came down to me in my heart knowing, especially after these past two days, that I can go out there and be productive.”

Peterson said he spoke to Coach Mike Zimmer, head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman and his wife as he contemplated making the return one week sooner than he initially expected.

Panthers: Coach Ron Rivera says Cam Newton is “good to go” Monday night against Washington although he’s listed as questionable on the injury report with a right shoulder injury. “He moved around pretty well out there in practice,” Rivera said Saturday.

Chiefs: Kansas City placed veteran linebacker Derrick Johnson on injured reserve Saturday after he ruptured his Achilles tendon last week, and elevated defensive lineman David King from the practice squad.

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2016-12-17 19:26 Staff and www.pressherald.com

71 /99 5.9 NHL roundup: Bruins’ Grzelcyk at home in TD Garden debut BOSTON — Making your NHL debut would be momentous for anybody, but Matt Grzelcyk’s first couple of days in the league were pretty darn special.

On Wednesday, he played his first game, and it was in Pittsburgh against the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins and some of the stars he grew up idolizing, including Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Thursday night at TD Garden, he made his home debut at the rink that’s just a short stroll across the bridge from his native Charlestown.

Before playing the Ducks, however, Grzelcyk did his best to play it cool.

“I kind of made it a point when I got called up not to put as much into it as I did in camp. I’m just trying to do my best to keep my mind off it,” he said.

Yet it wasn’t easy.

The young defenseman played many big games on the Garden ice in the past as a young man with Boston University and as a kid “whenever my dad could sneak me in.” Grzelcyk’s father, John, is a member of the arena’s bull gang and was on the clock before Thursday night’s game. After watching his son’s NHL debut on TV with members of their extended family – and fielding many phone calls – John was expecting to enjoy the home-ice debut in person.

Matt, meanwhile, was hoping his previous Garden experiences would help guide him through this special moment.

“You’re not wide-eyed going around the arena. You know the ins and outs, played in some pretty big environments here. Hopefully stepping on the ice will give me a comfort level,” the younger Grzelcyk said.

It was a mixed bag for Grzelcyk Thursday night. He was on the ice for a Bruins goal – Austin Czarnik’s first-period score – and for one against the home team as Kevin Bieksa’s breakaway goal came as the Anaheim defenseman stepped out of the penalty box later in the first. The latter was a play Grzelcyk would like to have back.

“I think I wasn’t expecting it to take as crazy a hop as it did. But that’s something that’s kind of a teaching point for me,” Grzelcyk said after the 4-3 loss to Anaheim. “I have to recognize the guy is coming out of the box there. At that point in the game, you can’t be too risky.”

In 10:24 of ice time, Grzelcyk took four shots.

STARS 3, FLYERS 1: Adam Cracknell scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period, and Dallas won at home to end Philadelphia’s 10-game winning streak.

Radek Faksa and Jordie Benn also scored for the Stars and Antti Niemi stopped 31 shots, including three during a Flyers power play in the closing minutes.

Tyler Leier scored his first NHL goal in the first period for the Flyers.

WILD 4, COYOTES 1: Darcy Kuemper stopped 27 shots in his first start in nearly three weeks, and the Wild beat Arizona in St. Paul, Minnesota for their seventh straight win.

Ryan Suter and Tyler Graovac both ended goal-scoring droughts of at least 13 games, and Chris Stewart and Eric Stall also scored for the Wild. Minnesota has won seven in a row for the first time since March 2013.

Were you interviewed for this story? If so, please fill out our accuracy form

Send questions/comments to the editors.

2016-12-17 19:23 News service www.pressherald.com

72 /99 2.2 Opinion Sound Off for Sunday, Dec. 18 Posted:

12/17/16, 6:21 PM EST | Updated: 10 secs ago

I’d like to give a shout to the program that was on this week, “Rock the Troops.” Great show. It was fantastic. They had survivors of Pearl Harbor on stage; one was 99 years old, the other was 96 years old. I thought Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson did a great job hosting. I liked him even when he was a wrestler. The fact that the man can laugh at himself and is a talented entertainer – I hope he continues to have success in the business. I’m a veteran and I thought it was a great production.

MAGIC MIKE FROM HAVERTOWN

To “Dollars Add Up,” you must be another intellectual idiot. I am the caller who talks about common sense and I’m proud of it. You sound like you don’t have it. So why don’t you stay out of society where you belong?

Having been a teacher, I had found it reliable to assess the character of parents by observing their children’s behavior, self-esteem and manners. If this is true, then Trump will be an able leader, for his children are well-spoken, well-educated and show pride when they’re in their father’s presence.

DELCO DAD

I want to thank Gov. Corbett for increasing the gas tax another eight cents. And would somebody please fix Lansdowne Avenue? Where’s my money going?

Good morning and merry Christmas. We all need to give a shout out to Jill Stein pushing for that recount in Michigan because they found out that there are 248 precincts that have more votes than voters. The secretary of state of Michigan has now called for an in-depth study as about the cheating in Detroit where Hillary won. Won’t it be interesting if Hillary loses when they recount those votes?

“Anemic Growth” is a typical clueless Republican. We’ve had 72 straight months of job growth in this country. Some of it has been slower, some of it has it pretty good. And the only reason it’s been slow at all is because of the obstructionist Republican Congress who you think are doing a wonderful job for some stupid reason. We would have many more jobs if Republicans would try to create jobs, but their idea is “if we don’t create jobs we’ll get to win an election,” which is what they did. So this succeeded for their strategy but it didn’t help the country at all.

For all the criticism of Trump, I haven’t seen anything about the one liability he should really have – the questionable sibling or other close relative. He really needs a Billy Carter or Roger Clinton.

JIMMY C. FROM GEORGIA

“Hardly Patriotic” is another person who’s living in a fantasy world. Donald Trump is the most unpatriotic American I think I have ever seen. But people like you listen to him talk and think he is patriotic. What is that say about you? President Obama is not patriotic. Well President Obama cares about our country, unlike who’s getting ready to sell our country to Russia.

TOLD YOU SO

They accuse the Clintons of pay-to-play. I think what the Trump team is going to be doing pay-to- work. He’s hiring nothing but millionaires and billionaires and generals. These stupid American people voted in these Republicans. The billionaires are going to be running in this country. What’s going to happen to the middle class and the poor people? We’re going to eat dirt.

I see a caller said that Trump can be the next FDR or Reagan. Being a Democrat in Republican clothing was probably the most un-ideological candidate we’ve seen in decades and I don’t think that’ll change once he’s in office. So that leaves running up massive federal debt. I certainly hope this caller is wrong.

FORMER SESTAK SUPPORTER

2016-12-17 19:21 www.delcotimes.com

73 /99 0.9 Trump's pick for budget director has urged big spending cuts Republican Rep. Mick Mulvaney , President-elect Donald Trump 's choice as his budget director, is a fierce deficit hawk with a record of pushing deep spending cuts across the federal government to balance the budget.

The 49-year-old from South Carolina, just reelected to a fourth term, is co-founder of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus that pushed former Speaker John A. Boehner (R- Ohio) from power.

As director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Mulvaney would be responsible for Trump's budget submissions to Congress. Those budgets are likely to address Trump's campaign promises to repeal the Affordable Care Act, cut taxes broadly and boost spending on public works and other projects.

If confirmed by the Senate, Mulvaney would lead an office that coordinates federal regulations, putting him in charge of repeals of Obama administration rules. Trump has been critical of several of President Obama's executive orders, including those involving climate change, reining in Wall Street and protecting immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children.

Strongly anti-establishment, Mulvaney has supported cuts beyond what House Republican leaders preferred and has refused to back deals to raise the government's borrowing limit, recently causing heartburn for current Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.).

Donald Trump promotes himself as a man divorced from party ideology, a president-elect just as open-minded to input from Al Gore as from Newt Gingrich.

But with his Cabinet nearly complete, he has chosen one of the most consistently conservative domestic policy teams in modern history, setting...

Donald Trump promotes himself as a man divorced from party ideology, a president-elect just as open-minded to input from Al Gore as from Newt Gingrich.

But with his Cabinet nearly complete, he has chosen one of the most consistently conservative domestic policy teams in modern history, setting...

The nomination probably will soothe fiscal conservatives but could put Mulvaney at odds with Trump, who has pledged additional spending for transportation, military and veterans' healthcare while offering few details on how to pay for it. Trump has previously suggested that the government should take on new debt for many of the spending projects because interest rates are so low.

Mulvaney said he looked forward to working with Congress to create policies that will be "friendly to American workers and businesses. "

"The Trump administration will restore budgetary and fiscal sanity back in Washington after eight years of an out-of-control, tax-and-spend financial agenda," he said.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco calls Mulvaney a "radical" who consistently voted to cut Medicare benefits. She notes that he was a supporter of government shutdowns in 2013 and 2015 over spending that Republicans opposed for the healthcare law and Planned Parenthood.

"We cannot have an OMB director who sees inflicting pain on working families as leverage for his radical agenda," Pelosi said.

Mulvaney was elected in the 2010 tea party wave. He defeated Democratic Rep. John Spratt, who had been chairman of the House Budget Committee, by branding him as a big-spending liberal.

Mulvaney quickly came to oppose Boehner's leadership before helping push him out in 2015. In 2013, Mulvaney declined to support Boehner's reelection as speaker. That year, Mulvaney unsuccessfully pushed for amendments to reduce Pentagon funding and proposed across-the- board federal cuts, including for the military.

The Ghost Ship fire has brought scrutiny to warehouses and unconventional living spaces, the L. A. Rams coach is out, it’s designed to protect the U. S. from a nuclear attack from North Korea or Iran, There's a new Gold Rush happening in California, the first place officials look to assess the drought is the northern Sierra Nevada, Black Lives Matter is a case study in art as protest, and "Rogue One," the new Star Wars film, is released this weekend.

Visiting Downtown Disney? You'll have to go through metal detectors from now on; a $1-billion desalination plant might be coming to Huntington Beach; meet the 'Chromies’ ; and federal officials are investigating the Orange County district attorney’s office .

Yahoo says more than a billion user accounts have been hacked. Dec. 15, 2016. (CBS Miami)

Wanna fly and flip through the air? There's a school for that. Benjamin Crutcher, our curiosity correspondent, goes for a day to see what it takes to be a trapeze artist. The first place officials look to assess the drought is the northern Sierra Nevada , Black Lives Matter is a case study in art as protest , in the corruption trial of retired Sheriff Lee Baca, a former Los Angeles Times reporter's testimony dealt a heavy blow, and you might want to leave the kids at home if you plan on going to see “Rouge One” this weekend .

The first place officials look to assess the drought is the northern Sierra Nevada , Black Lives Matter is a case study in art as protest , in the corruption trial of retired Sheriff Lee Baca, a former Los Angeles Times reporter's testimony dealt a heavy blow, and you might want to leave the kids at home if you plan on going to see “Rouge One” this weekend .

2016-12-17 19:20 Associated Press www.latimes.com

74 /99 3.1 Nicole Kidman's early modeling photos are the best things you'll see today Nicole Kidman was definitely destined for stardom.

The 49-year-old actress revisited her early modeling days on a recent episode of The Graham Norton Show, and the pictures couldn't be more amazing!

EXCLUSIVE: Keith Urban Gushes Over Wife Nicole Kidman: She's 'an Incredible Mom'

"I don't know if you're aware of this, but I'm afraid Dolly magazine has shut its doors. Dolly magazine was very important to you when you were starting out, wasn't it? " host Graham Norton asked Kidman, setting up for the big reveal.

"Yeah. I got on the cover of Dolly magazine," Kidman agreed, before a shot of her as a curly haired 14-year-old model was displayed on the screen. "Are you being facetious? "

"No, you look fabulous! " Norton replied, before showing a few more epic photos.

"Oh god, you're so brutal! " Kidman joked, unable to hold in her laughter at her blast from the past.

Watch below:

WATCH: Nicole Kidman Explains Why She and Keith Urban Don't Give Each Other Christmas Gifts

Kidman's modeling shots are just a little more elegant these days.

More from ET Online : Nicole Kidman Explains Why She and Keith Urban Don't Give Each Other Christmas Gifts Nicole Kidman Says Keith Urban 'Carried' Her Through the Loss of Her Father: 'It Laid Me Out' From Emma Stone to Casey Affleck -- Who to Watch at the Palm Springs International Film Festival

2016-12-17 19:18 AOL Staff www.aol.com

75 /99 0.5 Atheist Group Defaces Nativity Scene With Poster An atheist hung an anti- religion banner next to a nativity scene, sparking anger among some Manassas, Virginia locals.

The nativity scene, located in Nelson Park, now has a banner decrying religion next to it, reports WJLA.

“At this Season of the Winter Solstice, LET REASON PREVAIL. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth & superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds,” the banner reads.

A member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation hung the banner to remind people that atheists still exist.

“I think that’s important to let the American public know that we’re out there and that we have opinions as well,” the man said. He grew up in a Christian home but became an atheist later on in life.

The group itself said they are hoping for a time when they will no longer have to hang the banner.

Some locals are upset by the banner and found it offensive.

“Atheists’ unwillingness to believe in God. That’s their problem. But they can’t inflict that upon those of us who live by those virtues,” Percy Brown said.

One woman told WJLA that she was going to take the banner down because it angered her that much.

Manassas spokeswoman Patty Prince said the group and its member got a permit to be able to hang the sign in the park. Prince also said that the city cannot restrict the content of a banner unless it is profane language.

The city only has the power to regulate the duration the banner stays, its location, etc, Prince explained.

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2016-12-17 19:10 Amber Randall dailycaller.com

76 /99 1.3 This train terminates at London WINTERLOO: Rail company injects some festive cheer into its routes by making the station names Christmassy With hundreds of flights and train journeys delayed because of fog and strike action across the country, glancing up at a station sign is becoming associated with anger and frustration. But South West Trains has lightened the mood on platforms on some of its routes into London by giving the station names an injection of Christmas cheer. Ash Evans tweeted this video showing the changed names as the service headed to London 'Winterloo'. The south London based doctor said it was 'excellent work' by the railway operator, which is usually the target of frustration. The video shows New Malden becoming New Mald-wine, and Raynes Park becoming Raynesdeer Park. Wimbledon and Earlsfield don't quite get the festive pun treatment, but the next stop of Clapham Junction becomes Clapham Jingle Bells. Vauxhall becomes Deck the Vauxhall before the service terminates at London Winterloo. On another of the network's routes, Surbiton became Snowbiton, and Kingston became Three Kingston. Twickenham became Twinkleham and Windsor became Windsor Wonderland, while Mortlake got a Merry Mortlake addition. Ash's video has been shared more than 50 times on Twitter, but one eagle-eyed commuter spotted the service was 'only seven minutes delayed'. Another said they had seen Alton listed as 'Angelic Alton' earlier in the day. Anna Ludwinski tweeted: 'Loving the festive notifications at Wimbledon today.' The network announced the changes with a tweet saying: 'A week today its Christmas Eve! This means one thing.. its time to unveil the #SWTChristmas station names!'

2016-12-17 19:06 Rebecca Taylor www.dailymail.co.uk

77 /99 0.0 Daimler CEO doesn't expect Trump to disadvantage European carmakers BERLIN, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Daimler does not expect Donald Trump to favour U. S. carmakers over their European counterparts, the carmaker's chief executive told a German paper, shrugging off concerns over the president-elect's protectionist rhetoric during his campaign. "I find it hard to believe that it would come to punitive tariffs," Dieter Zetsche told Bild am Sonntag in an interview published on Sunday, adding he did not expect any negative consequences for Daimler's factory in Alabama. Zetsche said any protectionism favouring U. S. carmakers would hurt the United States more. "Prosperity in the United States and the world has come about thanks to growth in world trade," the paper quoted him as saying. Zetsche also shrugged off any concerns about the image of diesel cars in the United States, saying they were a niche product, accounting for less than 1 percent of car sales there. He said that the VW emissions scandal had put the industry in a bad light, but added: "We are convinced that diesel engines are necessary if we want to reduce CO2 emissions from transport. " (Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

2016-12-17 19:00 Reuters www.dailymail.co.uk

78 /99 1.9 After Historic Peace Deal, FARC Takes First Step Toward Becoming Political Party Less than a month after a historic peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) ended more than 50 years of conflict, the FARC has taken a crucial first step toward official political recognition. ...

2016-12-17 19:00 system article.wn.com

79 /99 0.5 How dare they joke that Ronnie will be the next rock star to go? Rolling Stone legend's wife Sally Wood blasts critics of their 30-year age gap and says she's been stunned by the vitriolic jibes When she married into an older generation of rock ’n’ roll royalty, Sally Wood must have expected the odd sly aside about the 30-year age gap with her husband. But she admits she has been stunned by the vitriol of some jibes about her relationship with Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood. Sally Wood, 38, says she finds it especially ‘rude’ when people talk ‘unkindly’ about her husband’s age – and singled out a joke made by DJ Christian O’Connell. The Absolute Radio presenter mocked Ronnie at the Q music awards last month, saying the 69- year-old should be worried after a year in which so many musicians, including David Bowie, died. Speaking exclusively to The Mail on Sunday’s You magazine, Sally said O’Connell ‘made a really horrible joke about everyone in the audience being old and Ronnie being the next rock star to go. ‘Yes he is older and I am younger, but I don’t think about age when I think of Ronnie. He’s always had this unbelievably positive, youthful energy about him, which I love. I also think there is a lot to be said for marrying an older man. 'He knows who he is, he knows what he wants. He makes me happy, we laugh and he’s a great dad.’ Ronnie and theatre producer Sally – who celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary on Wednesday – have six-month- old twins Gracie and Alice, with the musician spurning drink, drugs and cigarettes since becoming a family man. And more children aren’t out of the question. Sally said: ‘I’m definitely not saying no. The twins are such lovely happy babies I think it would be incredible to do it again.’ Since fellow Stone Mick Jagger has just had his eighth child at 73, time could still be on their side. It may be an unlikely romance – theatre producer in her 30s falls for rock legend three decades her senior – but five years and two babies later, SALLY WOOD and her husband Ronnie are proving their critics wrong. She tells Louise Gannon about finding her place in the Rolling Stones’ happy blended family As the studio fairy lights twinkle overhead – to the delight of her twin baby girls – Sally Wood doesn’t even try to hide her excitement at the prospect of her first family Christmas with Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood. ‘Ronnie was playing Phil Spector’s Christmas album in October and we still haven’t taken down the lights from last year,’ she says. ‘But this year it will be our first Christmas with the girls.’ How does that feel? ‘Honestly, being a mum is great, we have two little girls and we’re happy. I don’t take any of it for granted.’ Sally, 38, is not your average rock ’n’ roll wife. There is no nanny for the twins, Gracie and Alice (Sally’s younger brother Geraint looks after them during the YOU shoot); she doesn’t drink and has never touched drugs. She is a respected actress and theatre producer, known for her sleeves-rolled-up attitude, and when she first met Ronnie, 69, the former head girl of King Edward VI Handsworth School in Birmingham admits she would have been hard pushed to name more than a couple of Rolling Stones albums. Her preparations for motherhood involved borrowing a cot from her cousin, and on a recent five- week tour of the US with the Stones, she took just one suitcase of clothes (the average rock wife has a Louis Vuitton ‘six set’). ‘I wanted to keep it simple: one case for me, one for the girls. There wasn’t time to think about outfits – except for the girls, of course. I probably think more about what they wear than what I do.’ Theirs was a relationship that surprised everyone – not least because of the age gap – but this Wednesday Sally and Ronnie celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary. Just after Ronnie proposed he gave Sally a necklace he’d had made for her: a heart-shaped ruby over the word ‘yes’. Every year he gives her a piece of jewellery featuring a ruby, he writes her love letters, and when she was pregnant with Alice and Gracie (now six months old) he drew beautiful ink sketches of her in each trimester, which are now framed in the girls’ nursery. On an average day, Ronnie changes nappies, does the night feeds (‘He says the babies keep his hours,’ Sally laughs, ‘so he’s really happy to be up in the night with them’), goes for country walks and cooks Sally eggs for breakfast and ‘proper’ meals at night. When he’s not touring, an average afternoon at their home on the borders of Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire involves ‘watching a ridiculous amount of TV. Ronnie loves shows such as Flog It!, Tipping Point and Eggheads. I think the Stones should go up against the Eggheads – I’d like to see that.’ Ronnie’s children and six grandchildren are regular visitors. He has a 40-year- old son, Jesse, from his first marriage to Krissy Findlay; a daughter, Leah, 38, and son, Tyrone, 33, by his second wife Jo Wood; and a stepson Jamie, 43, from Jo’s first marriage, whom he adopted. ‘There are always family and friends in and out,’ says Sally. ‘We all spend a lot of time together.’ Things could have been very different for the man even the excessive Keith Richards described as ‘the only cat I struggle to keep up with’. For Ronnie, in the wild days of the 1970s and 80s, televisions were for throwing out of hotel windows, not watching. Once as notorious for his consumption of drink, drugs and women as he was acclaimed for his guitar playing, Ronnie now neither drinks, takes drugs nor even smokes. It would be easy to describe Sally as the woman who tamed the wildest rock star of them all, but that is not an accurate picture. ‘I never tell Ronnie not to do something,’ she says. ‘I think if you want to make a change it has to be your decision. It was Ronnie’s decision to stop smoking. Ultimately it’s for me and the girls, but it’s something he wanted to do for us and for himself. I’d never make demands about what someone else should do.’ Sally has faced a barrage of criticism about her relationship with Ronnie, from the age difference to accusations that she’s just another rock ’n’ roll gold-digger. But, again, this isn’t accurate. I spoke to Ronnie just a few days after his daughters were born and he said: ‘I’m the lucky one in all of this. I’ve been sober for six years now and I stopped smoking a month before the girls were born. I feel I can have a life like I’ve never had before. I can’t help thinking I wish my mum could see this [his mother Elizabeth died in 1998]; she would be so happy, she would love these beautiful girls. And she would really love Sally. I feel like I’ve got a second chance at life.’ But if you want to see the steel behind Sally’s classic English-rose looks, all it takes is a mention of the 30-year age difference. ‘You know what,’ she says. ‘I find it rude when people talk unkindly about it. 'We went to the Q Awards recently and the host [Absolute radio DJ Christian O’Connell] made a really horrible joke about everyone in the audience being old and Ronnie being the next rock star to go. Yes, he is older and I am younger, but I don’t think about age when I think of Ronnie. He’s always had this unbelievably positive, youthful energy about him, which I absolutely love. 'I also think there is a lot to be said for marrying an older man. He knows who he is, he knows what he wants. He makes me happy, we laugh and he’s a great dad. He’s so relaxed and incredibly creative.’ It is perhaps telling that one of Sally’s strongest supporters is Ronnie’s ex-wife Jo, who reportedly wishes Ronnie had got together with Sally years before he did. Fearne Cotton, the TV and radio presenter who is married to Ronnie’s eldest son Jesse, agrees: ‘Sally is a good woman. A properly good woman. And she wants everyone to be happy.’ In a short space of time, Sally has been accepted into the tight Rolling Stones family as ‘blood’ (Keith’s name for the Stones’s inner circle). Mick Jagger was one of the first to visit her in hospital after she had the twins, having his photo taken with a baby in each arm. Ronnie’s friends, from Rod Stewart (who was best man at their wedding, along with Sir Paul McCartney) to the Stones, have been bowled over by her. Rod – Ronnie’s oldest friend from their days in the Faces – describes her as ‘a diamond’. Sally scrolls through pictures on her phone, showing me images of Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Keith Richards all cuddling her babies during the US tour. As I gasp open-mouthed, she shrugs. ‘Yes, they are all incredible heroes and unbelievably respected musicians, but at the end of the day they are just people and they all love kids. Everyone wanted to see and hold the girls. 'Babies are a great leveller. The twins are seasoned travellers, they were with everyone on planes, in hotels and at rehearsals. At the concerts, the music is too loud so they were backstage, but there were always people to hold them so I could watch the band. We had a great time.’ Ronnie and Sally were never really meant to be an item. They first met in 2003, when he was putting on an art exhibition at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane where she was working as an assistant producer. She was in a relationship and he was living the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle – in and out of recovery – and married to Jo. Her first impression was ‘that he was very funny and an incredibly good artist’. He asked her and Geraint, a music journalist, to write a piece about the exhibition for a book. They kept in touch (several years later she produced Mick’s son James in a play) and occasionally met for coffee. ‘I knew a reasonable amount about people in recovery from working in the theatre. Ronnie knew I didn’t drink and I was a safe contact for him. We would talk about books – I’d suggest things for him to read. He’s always made me laugh and I think there was a part of me that liked him, but I didn’t allow myself to think that because it just wasn’t part of the picture.’ Ronnie left Jo in 2008, relapsing into drink and drugs, and began dating a young waitress, Ekaterina Ivanova, in what could be described as a ‘lost year’ of his life. Sally watched from the sidelines, offering support. Then in 2011 he asked her out on a date – which turned out to be Paul McCartney’s wedding to Nancy Shevell. ‘There was this lovely family atmosphere and Ronnie and I had a real laugh. We danced and it was the first time I remember thinking of him in a completely different way.’ A few weeks later he wrote her a letter saying how he felt about her, how he wanted to have a proper relationship and to take it seriously. She spoke to a friend who told her that she would regret it for the rest of her life if she didn’t take a chance on him. Five years on, their relationship is proving the doubters wrong. Sally, the middle child of two classical musicians turned music teachers, Colin and Alison Humphreys, has managed effortlessly to fit in with the rock elite without losing her foothold in the real world. Ask her what school she is planning to send her daughters to and she says, ‘There’s a school at the bottom of our road, which is great. It’s not a private school and it’s local so they’d have friends close by. We want the girls to have as normal an upbringing as possible. And I do think it is possible.’ Sally’s life with Ronnie sounds idyllic, but she can also be very entertaining about the reality of the domestic habits of an international rock star. ‘There are definitely big differences between us,’ she says. ‘I have one wardrobe and Ronnie has a whole room dedicated to clothes. When we go out, he takes twice as long as me to get dressed. And when I buy something, I put it away and bring it out a few weeks later. Ronnie will try it on with six different outfits, then wear it straight away. It makes me laugh because he has such an enthusiasm for everything.’ Sally has worked since the age of 15 (in hairdressers, radio stations, as an actress) and has no intention of stopping now she is married to a multimillionaire rock star. She is currently working on a new musical for 2018 and will be chairing the committee for next year’s Roundhouse Gala. (Sally says Roger Daltrey has been confirmed as the headline act. The last event, which she also chaired, raised £1 million for the charity, which supports young people in the arts.) Her confectionery company Sweet Theatre has expanded and its Shakespeare-themed chocolates are stocked at Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, Harvey Nichols, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s shop and Shakespeare’s Globe. ‘I’ve always been very creative, always a doer,’ she says. ‘When I was pregnant all of that creativity went. I was worried it wouldn’t come back, but in the past few months I’ve been coming up with more and more ideas. I also really want to get back into acting and radio work.’ She looks incredible, but there is no personal trainer to thank. ‘I walk for an hour every day,’ she says. ‘For me it’s not just exercise – it’s mindfulness, meditation, head-clearing to be out in the fresh air. I walk in the wind and rain with our dog [a beagle called Dolly]. If you want to stay fit, just walk; it’s the best thing you can do.’ At Christmas, the Woods go overboard with festivities. ‘We go crazy,’ laughs Sally. ‘There will be a Christmas tree in every room, fairy lights everywhere and Ronnie ramps up the heating so it’s really warm and cosy. He’s very traditional. This year he wants to go to midnight mass together as a family. He also insists on having a proper stocking full of presents. He’s so good at buying presents, it’s pretty difficult finding the perfect gift for him. He sets the bar very high.’ The Woods will host a big dinner for both their families. ‘Everyone will pop in and out and we’ll go over to see all the kids and grandchildren,’ she says. ‘It’s the one meal I cook a year. All the family will pitch in and Ronnie will laughingly say, “She makes a great Christmas dinner.” And he’ll be playing with the babies.’ As for what the future holds, Sally is not ruling out more children. Mick holds the Stones’ record with eight (his son by the ballerina Melanie Hamrick was born earlier this month), but Ronnie is not far behind. ‘I’m definitely not saying no,’ she says. ‘Before the twins were born, I didn’t think any further than them. But they are such lovely, happy babies I think it would be incredible to do it again with the knowledge I now have. Our life is complete just as we are, but you never know what will happen.’ 2016-12-17 18:54 Mark Wood www.dailymail.co.uk

80 /99 0.5 How a repeal of Obamacare could affect you even if you have employer health insurance One of the first things Tracy Trovato did – once she overcame the shock of learning her 42-year-old, marathon-training husband had leukemia – was look through their health insurance documents. ...

2016-12-17 18:51 system article.wn.com

81 /99 0.0 Police rescue 'frozen' woman who turns out to be mannequin Police in New York broke a car window to rescue a woman who turned out to be an extremely realistic mannequin. The unusual incident happened Friday morning in the city of Hudson. The Times Union of Albany reports that a caller......

2016-12-17 18:48 system article.wn.com

82 /99 1.0 Mexico's ruling party expels 2 more ex-governors MEXICO CITY (AP) " Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party has expelled or suspended two more ex- governors for alleged corruption. Former governors once enjoyed a sort of immunity after leaving office and also once formed......

2016-12-17 18:48 system article.wn.com

83 /99 83 /99 2.0 Talks stall over Congo's delayed election; violence feared

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) " Talks in Congo between President Joseph Kabila's party and the opposition are on hold after they failed to reach an agreement before the date Kabila was originally supposed to step down from power, mediators......

2016-12-17 18:48 system article.wn.com

84 /99 1.9 Election questions leave US distrustful, like other nations By Bradley Klapper, Associated Press

Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016 | 2:46 p.m.

WASHINGTON — Americans' enduring confidence that their elections are unimpeachably fair is teetering. Welcome to what much of the world calls reality, especially Russia's neighbors.

While the United States cites its popular votes and peaceful transitions of power as examples of its democratic vigor, elections results elsewhere can entail a hint or heavy dose of suspicion. Ballots are rigged regularly, level playing fields are rare and bigger powers often meddle in the sovereign political processes of smaller nations.

Russia, accused by the CIA of helping Donald Trump in last month's presidential election, is no stranger to accusations of interference with other countries' elections. Nor is the United States.

Whether the full extent of the accusations of Russian interference turns out to be true, they already are damaging the legitimacy of the U. S. democratic process. When many citizens distrust their government, the media and other institutions of American life, doubts about the freeness and fairness of the elections cause consternation.

The outgoing Obama administration is reviewing the evidence of Russian hacking of emails from the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton's campaign chief John Podesta, and if such activity was designed to tilt the outcome toward Trump. Republican-led investigations are taking place in Congress.

Trump has denounced the claims as partisanship. "Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and WE tried to play the Russia/CIA card. It would be called conspiracy theory! " he tweeted this past week.

The broader, systemic fear for the U. S. is that what was an anomaly in 2000 could start becoming the norm: elections that don't produce presidents recognized by one and all.

Sixteen years ago, it was the disputed recount and incredibly close contest in Florida between Republican George W. Bush, the eventual winner, and Democrat Al Gore. Now, it is the question of whether Trump, who like Bush didn't receive the majority of votes nationwide, would have prevailed in a race that didn't include daily email revelations from the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

Trump may have contributed to the distrust. Before the Nov. 8 vote, he repeatedly suggested the election was "rigged" against him. A Pew Research Center survey shortly before Election Day showed 56 percent of Trump supporters having little to no trust in the fairness of the process. Only 11 percent of Clinton backers felt that way.

While the numbers may appear an anomaly in America, elections are hardly beyond reproach in much of the world.

Most of the world's governments include some form of voting on national leaders. But most nations don't qualify as "free," according to the nongovernmental organization Freedom House.

The State Department also chronicles the shortcomings of countries in its annual reports, detailing which governments and leaders restrict freedom of expression, the press and open dissent before and during elections. Africa, Asia and the Middle East score particularly poorly, and the world's most populous nation, China, remains a one-party state. Yet even some of Europe's established democracies are appearing increasingly flawed.

Some fault may reside in foreign interference. In France, Germany and the Netherlands, officials are preoccupied with what they see as Russian moves to influence their elections through support for nationalist and populist parties, and efforts to delegitimize governments that haven't done Moscow's bidding.

German officials charge Russia with engineering hacks of Germany's parliament. Elsewhere, the perceived meddling has come in the form of false news stories designed to sway voter sentiments. It was only 12 years ago that Ukraine's eventual president became disfigured after he mysteriously ingested a lethal poison while campaigning against a pro-Moscow candidate.

Many countries in Central and Eastern Europe live with the memories of Soviet-manipulated votes ushering in communist dictatorships.

For them, cyberattacks may only be the newest weapon.

Russia denies that it interferes or plays favorites in foreign elections.

The United States has a dodgy record itself. Its Cold War history includes cases when it ensured the victory of pro-capitalist and pro- democracy parties against communists, as in Italy after World War II. In other instances, Washington's response to unfavorable results was coup d'etat, as in Iran and Guatemala in the 1950s or Chile two decades later.

These days, the U. S. stresses level playing fields in foreign elections, a message that less-than- free governments often conflate with interference.

Washington says it remains strictly impartial as other nations make their democratic choices.

Yet top U. S. officials still play favorites, meeting opposition figures in some countries but not others. In rare cases they even take sides, as when President Barack Obama publicly urged Britain's voters not to leave the European Union. He failed.

These efforts, however, differ from what Russia is accused of doing because they are out in the open. They do not involve claims of ballot tampering, illegal funding for parties or cyberhacking.

2016-12-17 18:46 By Bradley lasvegassun.com

85 /99 1.5 Radio host Alan Jones opens up on being rushed into major back operation Radio personality Alan Jones underwent a 13-hour back surgery last month after a damaged spinal disc became lodged in his spinal canal, causing him extensive pain and leaving him unable to walk properly. The outspoken 2GB broadcaster, who claims playing sports as a kid led to years of back pain, had surgery on November 21 at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney - one month before he was scheduled. The 75-year-old, who has previously battles prostate cancer and a brain tumour, told The Daily Telegraph the extensive operation had left him feeling 'pretty excavated, so to speak.' Mr Jones was booked in for surgery in December but specialists pushed it forward and he is now slowly recovering at a rehabilitation hospital. 'When the surgeons got in, they had this terrible job of getting to the area and then they had to open L1, L2, L3, L4 and L5. It's a massive operation and the pain has been unbelievable,' he said. 'Luckily I can't see the wound but the problem with backs is you have to sleep on them. You can't escape it.' Mr Jones, whose operation forced him to miss the final segment of his radio show for the year, announced his urgent departure from 2GB in early November after his health issues became too much. 'I wanted to leave it until the end of the year but unfortunately I can't because of the pain. Pain has never killed anyone by the way, but this has got out of control,' he said at the time. Mr Jones said he now has to learn how to walk properly again. 'The next challenge is I've got this body that is significantly weakened and I have to learn to walk again as my left leg can't take the body weight. I have a fairly big rehab job ahead,' he said. He said he feels like he is getting past the worst of it, but he still has nerve pain during physiotherapy. The shock jock has undergone four back surgeries total since 1984 when the issue first surfaced. Mr Jones said he hopes he is able to join his family for Christmas but vows to 'be alright' by first of February.

2016-12-17 18:42 Brianne Tolj www.dailymail.co.uk

86 /99 0.0 Vendors battle below-freezing temperatures with heaters, harmonica and hot tamales Even the clams were cold Saturday.

“It’s almost a relief for them to go in the ice chest and back up to 32 degrees,” said shellfish grower Tom Knackstedt as he looked over his littleneck clams at the Proctor Farmers Market.

Knackstedt was selling his Totten Inlet clams and oysters at the weekly Tacoma market. He didn’t need to keep them cold in the 25 degree weather.

“I don’t feel like pouring ice on them,” he said. “That would be silly.”

Across from his booth, Melanie Allen was purveying teas from Gig Harbor.

“I’m trying to be upbeat, but I’m cold,” Allen said. The native Nova Scotian said she can’t handle temperatures below freezing.

“I am an embarrassment to Canada,” she lamented.

Before she left home, she raided her children’s long underwear, and stuffed chemical warmers in her boots and gloves.

“I don’t even know how many layers I have on,” she said.

Albert McMurry was also foggy about the number of layers he was wearing. But after some thought, the owner of Bona Fide Potents figured he had on three pairs of long johns.

They weren’t enough.

“As I started to slow down, I started shivering,” McMurry said.

Like Allen, he had stuffed chemical warmers in his boots and gloves.

Instead of sampling his homemade bitters, elixirs and tinctures with ice, McMurry was mixing them with hot water to an appreciative audience. Nearby, Forest Beutel was entertaining the crowd with his banjo and harmonica.

Beutel normally performs indoors. He had to choose songs with a slower beat Saturday.

“My fingers, they stop moving,” he said.

He has tried fingerless gloves, but they don’t work.

“It’s better to just keep playing,” Beutel said.

His harmonica presented a special challenge.

“I was worried that my lips were going to get stuck on it,” he said, conjuring the flagpole scene from “A Christmas Story.”

In between customers Saturday, Matt Crimi was keeping his gloved hands on the metal covers of his rice and beans warmers at his El Chito Tamales stand.

Nearby was a steaming container of hot tamales.

“It’s worse when it’s windy and rainy,” he said.

Neighbor Leonard Johnson agreed.

“I’m Norwegian, so I don’t get cold easy,” Johnson of Marrowstone Island said. He was surrounded by several gas burners keeping pots of chowder hot.

Maryclair Rigby wasn’t lucky enough to be selling anything hot at her Rising River Farm booth. So she was straddling a propane heater as customers looked over her cabbages, potatoes and parsnips.

She called the heater a lifesaver.

“I would be sad without it,” she said.

At her feet was a raw porterhouse steak.

“We actually have it in front of the heater otherwise we might not be able to eat it for dinner,” Rigby said.

Customer Susan Cutshall of Tacoma didn’t mind the cold.

“I love coming here,” Cutshall said. “No matter how cold or wet or windy. And it’s been all of those things.”

There was at least one person at the market who didn’t mind the cold.

Santa Claus was seated front and center, taking all comers on his lap for souvenir photos. Even a chilled newspaper reporter.

Santa, who sometimes uses the name Tom Bryant, said all of the lap-sitters were keeping him warm. He shrugged off any suggestions of cold-weather gear. “I don’t need extra padding,” Santa said. “I have plenty of that.”

2016-12-17 18:28 By Craig www.thenewstribune.com

87 /99 1.1 What do you get the pampered pooch who has everything? New gizmo that lets dog owners dispense treats and talk to their pet long-distance could be the perfect gift this Christmas It could be the perfect Christmas gift for the pampered pooch who has everything. A new gizmo lets dog-owners monitor their pets – and even dispense treats – long-distance. The ‘Furbo’ device connects with an app on pet-lovers’ mobile phones, allowing them to watch their dogs via a high-definition camera with night vision. A speaker and microphone means they can also talk to their pooch – or set up the software to send an alert every time he barks. And with a tap of a button the gadget, which looks like a ceramic biscuit jar, throws out a treat. At £199, the wi-fi connected device does not come cheap, and some owners have said they fear larger dogs could potentially topple it over trying to get at the snacks. Animal charities have also expressed their concern. The RSPCA said: ‘We don’t want devices like this to encourage owners to think it’s acceptable to leave pets for long periods of time. Dogs should never be left for long enough to become distressed. ‘And treats are a great way of rewarding positive behaviour but should only be given in moderation to avoid weight gain.’ The Mail on Sunday put the Furbo to the test with Sid, an energetic three-year-old labrador crossbreed from West London. He enjoyed the goodies, and did not try to break into the device, but seemed perplexed as to where the treats were coming from. Eventually, he lay next to the gizmo and wagged his tail while waiting for the next morsel to appear. The ‘treat-tossing dog camera’ was created by US firm Tomofun and is available from Amazon

2016-12-17 18:26 Charlotte Wace www.dailymail.co.uk

88 /99 2.2 Cruz Beckham 11, is sprayed with snow in backstage footage of his releases debut music video for Christmas charity single He has released his debut single at the tender age of 11. And on Saturday Cruz Beckham shared behind the scenes footage of filming for his Christmas charity single. The youngest of the Beckham boys was pictured being sprayed with snow in the Instagram video. Scroll down for video Sporting an all-black ensemble including a hoodie, Cruz crossed his arms and grimaced as he was sprayed with fake snow for the video. 'Was this supposed to happen???' he captioned the video on Instagram, which received 40,000 views in a matter of hours. And shortly afterwards he shared a video as he practised his impressive skating skills with older brother Brooklyn Beckham. Dressed in Adidas trousers, a hoodie and safety helmet, the youngster slalomed up and down the ramps with confidence. 'Fun skating with '@brooklynbeckham', he captioned the video. Cruz hit headlines earlier this month when he released his first single If Everyday Was Christmas. And the youngster continued on with his budding pop career, as he released a music video to accompany the track on Friday. Cruz enlisted the help of his older brothers Brooklyn, 17, and Romeo, 14, and sister Harper, 5, for the project - which sees the Beckham clan exploring the sights of their home town, London. The video begins with a shot of Cruz dancing in falling glitter - kicking off the professional proceedings for his young age. Getting more into the Christmas mood, the young singer is then seen crooning in a shower of falling snow as he belts out his catchy festive track. As a home made and fun project however, the video is interspersed with clips of him and his siblings messing around in some of London's most iconic sights and parks. One moment sees Brooklyn playing around with little Harper's long hair, while another sees the boys skateboarding in the rain beside a lit up Big Ben. Embracing the holiday season, Cruz then proceeds to lie flat in a pile of glitter, covering his plain white T-shirt, before pouring it and a selection of beads over his brothers' heads - which cause them to chase after him in a playful rage. The video ends with him dancing and singing alongside a group of children he is helping, as part of Global's Make Some Noise charity, who proceed to wave goodbye at the cameras. Leaving their youngest son to enjoy his starring role, famous parents David and Victoria do not appear in the fun-filled clip. Cruz released his first single If Every Day Was Christmas earlier this month - with proceeds going to 'disadvantaged children and young people across the UK' as part of Global's Make Some Noise. He filmed the music video for the track last week - with him and Brooklyn documenting the shoot around London on their Instagram pages. Despite raising money for charity with the single, the youngster and his parents David and Victoria Beckham have faced backlash for embarking on the project at such a young age. Television personality Piers Morgan even called the early pop breakthrough 'sickening' on Good Morning Britain last week, adding that Cruz 'should be at school.' Clear to state that he wasn't criticising Cruz himself, Piers said: 'It's not his fault. He's 11. But how did he manage to release this? It's sickening.' Piers continued that if Cruz wants to be a pop star, he should go through the 'hard graft' like other singers, not just release something because his parents are famous.' However footballer father David soon came to his son's defence - telling Good Morning America that Cruz had come up with the idea all himself. The handsome footballer reasoned: 'Cruz came to us and said "How about I do a Christmas song for charity? And all the proceeds go to charity. " 'There’s nothing more to this than that at the moment. 'He's 11 years old, he's still at school, he’s concentrating at school that’s the most important thing but he wanted to give back and he’s done this amazing little Christmas song that’s got a lot of attention. 'And you know we are very proud of it. He came to us with the idea. It's kind of cool but he's having fun.' 2016-12-17 18:24 Jessica Rach www.dailymail.co.uk

89 /99 0.0 Social media is damaging the confidence of Britons in the bedroom Social media is damaging the confidence of Britons in the bedroom, according to a study. More than half of Facebook and Instagram users surveyed admitted that reading romantic or fitness-related updates left them feeling insecure about their bodies. The research, commissioned by anonymous online journal Pencourage.com, also found that a majority of people are less likely to engage in sex after seeing other people’s posts on those sites. Photo-sharing appeared to have a stronger effect on men, with two-thirds saying it affected their performance in the bedroom. More than a quarter of women stated that logging into Facebook or Instagram before bedtime resulted in them feeling ‘less sexy’, and seven per cent said they ‘do not feel like sex’ after checking their Instagram or Facebook account. Psychologist Dr Richard Sherry said: ‘These findings go further than previous studies, which showed that intimacy is affected because we spend more time on our smartphones than we ever did before. ‘The growing trend of showing off sculpted abs, for example, as well as soppy romantic statuses, is damaging viewers’ self-esteem, specifically in regards to sex.’

2016-12-17 18:23 Sara Malm www.dailymail.co.uk

90 /99 1.8 Mail on Sunday's health quiz Dr Ellie Cannon, Mail on Sunday GP: Trouble at No 10 - and Washington 1. Prime Minister Theresa May suffers from which incurable health condition? 2. The Zika virus proved devastating this year, particularly in South America. Although there are few symptoms, when pregnant women are infected it can cause horrific defects in their babies. How is the virus primarily spread? 3. Bright-as- a-button former Countdown host Carol Vorderman, 55, said a particular life event inspired her to appear on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! this year. What was it? a The menopause b Running out of cash c Having a new book to promote 4. In October, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, which represents 22 colleges, published a list of 40 medical procedures that it said have little or no benefit for the patient, including X-rays for back pain and plaster casts for foot fractures, and made some practical suggestions for the best ways to treat common problems. What did it suggest was best for cleaning cuts and grazes? 5. Hillary Clinton was forced to take a short break from her ultimately unsuccessful presidential campaign during the US election when she developed pneumonia. Donald Trump’s medical records, which were made public, revealed he also suffered a common health problem. What was it? Jackie Lynch, nutritional therapist: A clash of the kitchen titans 1. In April, health warnings were slapped on some very popular rice and pasta products. Which were the products, and what was the warning? 2. The bacteria that colonises a healthy digestive system has been reported to play a role in the development of a range of health problems and illnesses from obesity to Parkinson’s disease. What is buzzword used to describe this internal ecosystem? 3. What is a freakshake? a A dance trend b A Halloween party c A beverage 4. This year Public Health England advised that we should all consider taking Vitamin D supplements to assure bone health. But what is the main natural source of this compound? 5. Which kitchen utensil did MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace and Great British Bake Off judge Mary Berry have a health-risk battle over earlier this year? a Spiralizer b Deep-fat fryer c NutriBullet Poppy Cross, fitness blogger: In search of a body beautiful 1. Social media is notorious for popularising largely unachievable (and probably unhealthy) ‘body trends’ that rely on have extremely low body fat or posing in awkward ways. Which of the following is NOT a real one… a The thigh gap b The ab crack c Ham arms d Bikini bridge 2. There were high hopes for British diving star Tom Daley in this year’s Rio Olympics, but he missed out on a gold medal in two events. What medal did he win? 3. Augmented reality smartphone app Pokemon Go became a worldwide obsession and an unlikely fitness trend. The single-player game, in which users seek out and imprison cartoon monsters, involves walking to different locations in a bid to ‘catch em all’. One champion player, 32-year-old father-of-four Sam Clark, clocked up 140 miles and managed to lose how much weight while playing? 4. Hygge, the Scandinavian healthy living trend, became hugely popular in Britain this year, spawning numerous bestselling books. What does the word ‘hygge’ translate as? a Being warm and cosy b Being blonde and genetically blessed c Eating herrings for every meal 5. In August, the Government published its strategy for combating the increasing problem of childhood obesity. It was roundly criticised for being too moderate, including a mandatory target for daily exercise in school. According to the plan, for how long each day should children be exercising at school? The answers Dr Ellie Cannon 1. Type 1 diabetes. Theresa May was 56 when she was diagnosed with the condition in which the pancreas stops producing insulin, the hormone essential for processing sugar. One in five of those diagnosed is over 40. 2. Zika is spread mostly by the bite of an infected mosquito. However, there is evidence that it can also be sexually transmitted. There is no vaccine or medicine, and pregnant women are advised not to travel to any area with Zika. Couples are advised to wait six months after travelling to a place with Zika before trying to conceive. 3. a. The menopause. 4. Drinking quality tap water, which studies have shown is just as effective for cleaning and washing cuts and grazes as using a sterile saline solution. 5. High cholesterol. Trump’s records reveal the problem is controlled with statins. However, the records also reveal he is obese, raising his risk of falling prey to a host of illnesses. Jackie Lynch 1. Dolmio and Uncle Ben’s sauces. Manufacturer Mars committed to highlighting them as foods that should be eaten only once a week, due to their high sugar, salt and fat content. 2. The microbiome, or microbiota, is the population of microbes such as fungi, bacteria and other organisms residing on the surface or in the membranes lining the mouth and gut. Extensive research is being conducted to discover their importance in maintaining the immune system and digestion. 3. A freakshake is a milkshake topped with cream, topped with cake, sauces and sweets. It’s a coronary in a glass (but probably quite good fun once in a blue moon). 4. Vitamin D is, in fact, primarily made by the skin in response to exposure to the sun’s UV rays – it’s actually difficult to consume enough in food to get the same amount. If you stay out of the sun or wear suncream, you might not be getting enough Vitamin D, so taking a supplement would be a sensible option. 5. b. The 81-year-old culinary queen said in August that she didn’t think ‘any household should have a deep-fat fryer’ due to the bad effect it could have on children’s diets. In response, Wallace accused her of attacking ‘our British way of life’. Poppy Cross 1. c. Ham arms. The thigh gap is having legs so slim that they don’t touch in the middle; an ab crack is a defined line separating the abdominal muscles; and a bikini bridge is where the hip bones protrude over a sunken stomach when reclining. 2. Despite coming first in the preliminary round of the individual 10m platform, Daley ended up 18th. He did, however, win a bronze medal in the synchronised 10m platform along with team-mate Daniel Goodfellow. 3. Pokemon Go player Sam Clark, from Southampton, said: ‘I’ve lost 2st. I haven’t won anything, just a better health.’ 4. a. In essence, hygge (pronounced ‘hoo-gah’) means creating a nice, warm atmosphere, preferably with candles and an open fire, and enjoying the good things in life with friends and family around you. What could be healthier? 5. Thirty minutes a day. Despite Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt promising ‘draconian’ measures to stem the tide of obesity in youngsters, the paper merely suggested schools provide half an hour of physical activity, and parents ‘support’ a further half an hour after school.

2016-12-17 18:15 Mail on www.dailymail.co.uk

91 /99 3.0 Louisa Johnson flashes her bra in white boiler suit at Liverpool concert She's been doing the rounds of Christmas concerts around the UK. And Louisa Johnson, 18, was putting in an appearance at the Radio City Christmas Live event, held at The Echo Arena in Liverpool on Saturday. The X Factor 2015 winner was dressed to impress in a quirky stage costume, daring to be different in a white boiler suit. Scroll down for video Louisa added a glamorous edge to her look by wearing the one-piece unbuttoned to the navel, flashing her black bralet underneath. She accessorised the look with chunky black boots in a peep-toe style to match the statement pocket detailing on her outfit. The Tears hitmaker sported her blonde locks in a loose ponytail and accentuated her features with natural make-up. one troll took to social media to comment: 'your boyfriend ain’t even coming close to be honest'. But the Tears hitmaker immediately fired back as she quipped: 'my boyfriend is my boyfriend cuz he aint shallow like u boy bye.' - a move she stands by. Speaking to MailOnline about living with her boyfriend, who she is believed to have started dating during The X Factor 2015 live shows, before discussing the online trolls. She said: 'It's going amazing with Daniel, really good. It's been amazing. It's quite normal living with him really, it's just nice to have him around. 'I think (the trolling is one) of those things. I have that kind of personality where it doesn't really get to me and I tell them to not to do it but I'm one of those people, I can't help myself, I just put people back in their place. 'Sometimes I want to respond and I know I'm giving them what they want but sometimes I just want to put them back in their place. He doesn't get upset by it, he finds it hilarious.' Returning to critics, Louisa addressed the problems faced by fellow X Factor winners Little Mix, who were crowned in 2011, as they were blasted for their racy stage outfits. She said: 'I think with everyone man or woman if you're comfortable and happy it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. You're up on stage because you're talented. 'I think wearing things you feel confident in and wearing things that make you feel comfortable that makes a role model. I'm comfortable, the Little Mix girls are comfortable and that's what makes a role model.' Louisa revealed she is still in touch with her superstar mentor Rita Ora: 'I'm still in touch with Rita. She's so busy at the moment and she's doing amazing. She gave me so much advice on the show and it's really helped me. We're still in touch now.' After The X Factor final aired last Sunday, with Nicole Scherzinger's protege Matt Terry taking the crown, Louisa discussed her advice to her successor. She said: 'The advice I gave the X Factor lot was to be yourself and be true to what you believe in and if something doesn't feel right and be honest. Matt is such an amazing artist and I feel he's really shown what he can do so I'm really excited for what he will do.' Of her first year in the spotlight, the So Good singer said: 'My year's been incredible, I've had so much fun. I've done so much more than I ever thought I would do in my first year. When I performed at Wembley Stadium it was a dream come true. 'I've never wanted to do anything else. Even when I was at school I never wanted to stay out I wanted to come home and do my songs. I don't feel like I'm missing out I'm not one of those people. I just get on with what I want to do and I'm happy.' Speaking about relaunching the store, Louisa said: 'I'm opening the refresh of the store and its got the biggest chocolate wall in the world. I can't wait to get my hands on it! They've got my face on them!'

2016-12-17 18:15 Kate Thomas www.dailymail.co.uk

92 /99 1.1 Barry Fugatt: Charlie the Christmas cactus is low- maintenance companion While I don’t recommend talking to plants, the fact is that many of us do. And as long as the communication is one way — the plant isn’t talking back to you — no mental health red flags are raised as far as I can see. ...

2016-12-17 18:10 system article.wn.com

93 /99 1.6 How to make this year's Christmas dinner the most Instagram-worthy yet When you're planning your menu for this year's Christmas dinner, you better set a place at the table for one extra... your social media followers. While they might not be eating the food, they will be watching - and hopefully liking - photos of your drool-worthy Christmas dinner. To help you take the best photo of this year's spread the boys from Bondi Harvest , Guy Turland and Mark Alston, have given FEMAIL the lowdown on foodstagram do's and don'ts. From nailing the lighting to thinking about the colours and the background look of your photo, there are plenty of things to take in to consideration. 1. COLOUR ALWAYS WINS 'Colour always wins, we love to use fresh, local and healthy ingredients to create vibrancy within our food,' the boys explained. 'It's these fresh pops of colours that really stand out on your Instagram feed and entice people to give it a little double tap.' The boys saif one of their most successful photos was one they took of Harissa Prawns. 'The brightness of the fresh whole king prawns paired with the gorgeous yellow lemon and mint sauce makes this summer dish a winner for Insta,' they said. 2. TEXTURE AND PLATES 'To nail an Insta-worthy feast this Christmas ditch the white plates and get creative with different textured tea towels, plates, bowls and ramekins,' the boys suggested. 'Uniformity is out, when we plate our food we love to create an eclectic spreads of different textured and sized plates, ramekins and tea towels that demand your attention. 'These days you can get some awesome styled plates pretty inexpensively from local markets.' Their personal favourite? A charcoal coloured dish. 3. SHOOT IT AND EAT IT HOT 'Food looks and taste better hot! So remember to work quickly to get the perfect photo while your food looks sexy and steaming hot. Working in batches is a great way to get that perfect steaming food porn moment,' they said. 'This method worked perfect while working with the guys at Philips to test some of our favorite Christmas recipes in the Philips Airfryer. 'It nailed the perfect steaming hot crusted jerk chicken in as little as 30 minutes – winner!' 4. NATURAL LIGHT 'We often shoot our clips and shots out on our Bondi balcony or literally at the beach as our food soaks in the rays and show up beautifully on the camera,' they said. 'If you can, search for natural light, take your dish to a window or head onto the deck to get the light and you're guaranteed a winner. 'If you're really struggling for natural light check out the Adobe Lightroom app to help achieve a similar look.' 5. MIX UP YOUR BACKGROUND 'We love experimenting with different backgrounds, there are so many options to choose from! We've shot in front of the waves, on wood, in the field, on the sand, on the rocks… you name it,' they said. 'Different textures and colours in your background will take your dish to the next level and don't forget to work your angles to capture an Insta-worthy shot.'

2016-12-17 18:04 Lauren Ingram www.dailymail.co.uk

94 /99 0.5 Is Donald Trump really a Beatrix Potter fan? Why did Alan Bennett hide in his gazebo with a water pistol? Craig Brown's festive books quiz reveals all 1) Pair these Christmas quotes with their authors a) ‘The presents I got were – as always – far inferior in every way to the ones I gave… The parties I went to didn’t have any nice young ladies at them, and everybody had a much smaller brain than mine.’ b) ‘If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about with “Merry Christmas” on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.’ c) ‘Aren’t we forgetting the true meaning of this day – the birth of Santa?’ d) ‘I am a poor man, but I would gladly give ten shillings to find out who sent me the insulting Christmas card I received this morning.’ e) ‘A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, and we all go through it together.’ i) Garrison Keillor ii) Bart Simpson iii) Kingsley Amis iv) Scrooge v) Mr Pooter 2) In 2016, which authors tweeted of Donald Trump: a) ‘Perhaps the first female President might be Ivanka Trump, as the US morphs into the Roman Empire?’ b) ‘If Trump’s advisors are so great, why has no one bothered to tell him his undereye concealer is the wrong color?’ c) ‘Haven’t voters noticed that Trump has the sort of look usually reserved 4 a ranting person bursting into McDonalds holding a chainsaw?’ d) ‘He has the deepest thoughts. So deep you’ll need a big shovel to get at ’em. Bigly deep.’ e) ‘Trump: Sexist oinker, tax dodger, draft dodger, pal of Putin, racist, serial liar, ANNNND... Republican candidate for president!’ i) J K Rowling ii) Robert Harris iii) Stephen King iv) Kathy Lette v) Jonathan Franzen 3) In a recent autobiography, who described himself in these words: ‘I can be cruel: I run, I dissemble, I dodge, I weave, I disappear, I return, I rarely apologise.’ a) Ed Balls b) Bryan Cranston c) Alan Partridge d) Bruce Springsteen e) Nick Clegg 4) Which author admitted to sitting on the loo and shooting squirrels out of their bathroom window? a) Paul Hollywood b) General Michael Jackson c) Vivienne Westwood d) Jeremy Paxman e) Phil Collins 5) Alan Bennett spent the afternoon of May 16, 2010, hiding in his gazebo with a water pistol. Why? a) He was hoping to surprise the squirrel stealing from his bird-feeder. b) He was rehearsing his part in the forthcoming cartoon production of The Tale Of Squirrel Nutkin. c) He was trying to spray the woman next door in retaliation for her complaint to the council about the colour of his garden gate. d) As a child, he had never played Cowboys And Indians, so thought he should give it a go before it was too late. e) He wanted to do the washing-up unobserved, as there was a TV documentary crew filming out the front. 6) Four of these observations are direct from the diaries of Vivienne Westwood and one of them is made up. Which? a) ‘It is important to our rulers that we believe in Santa just as we believe the propaganda that the world will carry on as normal.’ b) ‘Try to visit a hygienist for cleaning twice a year. This way you will keep your teeth.’ c) ‘Shakespeare saw the disaster we were heading for.’ d) ‘The monarchy has value. It gives stability and provides social cement and national identity.’ e) ‘In the near future, we will change our sex before lunch and then change it back again in time for tea.’ 7) What was Jeeves’s Christian name? a) Reginald b) Archibald c) Henry d) Aloysius e) John 8) And what was Captain Hook’s Christian name? a) Shirley b) James c) Jack d) Algernon e) Cedric 9) Pair the name of the author/editor with the nature of their guide book: a) Roget i) Quotes b) Pevsner ii) Cricket c) Roger iii) Filthy words d) Wisden iv) Synonyms e) Rees v) Architecture 10) Pair the cliche with the author who gave birth to it: a) All Hell broke loose b) Hail fellow, well met c) Money is the root of all evil d) What’s done is done e) The law is an ass i) Jonathan Swift ii) Shakespeare iii) John Milton iv) Charles Dickens v) The Bible 11) In Homeward Bound, the recent biography of Paul Simon, various former wives and girlfriends are mentioned. Which one of these women was NOT his wife or girlfriend? a) Carrie Fisher b) Bette Midler c) Shelley Duvall d) Thora Hird e) Edie Brickell 12) Which author, while on a tropical holiday, five months pregnant, peered into the darkness and saw her husband and her best friend kissing passionately in the moonlight? a) Elizabeth Jane Howard b) Jean Rhys c) Katie Price d) Agatha Christie e) Barbara Cartland 13) In 2016, the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Bob Dylan. Which one of the following sentences comes direct from his only novel, Tarantula (the others are made up)? a) ‘Alpha beta gammon steak, roll hearty two by two.’ b) ‘Rolling out on the highway, the frantic penguin puts his foot on the pedal.’ c) ‘Now’s not the time to get silly, so wear your big boots and jump on the garbage clowns.’ d) ‘Jump to it, my beauty, or the Adriatic monkey may catch you sleeping in the apple blossom.’ e) ‘I never freedom did nor said but saw the demon there.’ 14) Jackie Collins also died in 2016. Which of these is not the name of a character in her 2003 novel Hollywood Divorces ? a) Kris Phoenix b) Cindi Heart c) Linc Blackwood d) Lola Sanchez e) Plum Duff 15) Which author, who died this year… a) Published only two novels, 55 years apart. b) Once said: ‘I get melancholy if I don’t write. I need the company of people who don’t exist.’ c) Wrote 25 novels and biographies of, among others, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Daphne du Maurier. d) Once said: ‘For every complex problem there is a simple solution, and it’s wrong.’ e) Wrote the novel Beautiful Losers. i) Umberto Eco ii) Margaret Forster iii) Harper Lee iv) William Trevor v) Leonard Cohen 16) In June, Donald Trump told an interviewer that he was rereading ‘one of my favourite books, which is one of the greatest books of all time’. What was it? a) The Little House On The Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder b) 1984 by George Orwell c) The Art Of The Deal by Donald Trump d) All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque e) The Tale Of Squirrel Nutkin by Beatrix Potter 17) In his latest book, White Sands, Geoff Dyer writes of two famous men ‘… they pretty well drove each other nuts, but of the two X drove Y more nuts than Y drove him nuts, but that is not saying much, because Y was so highly strung that he had it in him to go nuts anyway, was partially nuts before he went totally nuts.’ Who are X and Y? a) Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell. b) Paul Gauguin and Vincent Van Gogh. c) Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. d) Ernest Hemingway and F Scott Fitzgerald. e) Johnny Marr and Morrissey. 18) Jilly Cooper’s new novel Mount! starts with a list of the colourful cast of characters 11 pages long. Which of these is not among them? a) Bethany Latton: a beautiful bitchy nymphomaniac. b) Hereward Macbeth: a baby, known as Hereward the Awake. c) Mr Wang: a corrupt Chinese mafia warlord who is cruelly colonising Africa. d) Blood River: a South African First Season Sire in love with the vet. e) Tiptoe Tomkinson: a 75- year-old corridor creeper, desperate to lay his hands on Bethany. 19) Who confessed, in the introduction to his 2016 autobiography: ‘This memoir was largely dictated into a tape recorder, usually over a late night brandy and cigar’? a) Ken Follett b) Ken Loach c) Ken Bruce d) Ken Clarke e) Ken Livingstone 20) Pair the first sentences with the 2016 autobiography: a) ‘Man, I gripped that steering wheel hard as the BMW M3 Coupé flipped once, twice, three times.’ b) ‘Canapes at Number 10 might not spark a eureka moment for every visitor, but they did for me.’ c) ‘The overriding memory I have of my childhood is the tremendous love of my mother.’ d) ‘Being present at your own funeral isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.’ e) ‘It was as brutal as it was unexpected.’ i) Karren Brady ii) Nick Clegg iii) Ed Balls iv) Nigel Mansell v) Usain Bolt Answers: 1) a iii; b iv; c ii; d v; e i 2) a ii; b v; c iv; d i; e iii 3) d 4) d 5) a 6) e 7) a 8) b 9) a iv; b v; c iii; d ii; e i 10) a iii; b i; c v; d ii; e iv 11) d 12) c 13) c 14) e 15) a iii; b iv; c ii; d i; e v 16) d 17) b 18) e 19) d 20) a v; b i; c iv; d iii; e ii

2016-12-17 18:01 Craig Brown www.dailymail.co.uk

95 /99 2.8 The holly and the Kylie: the singer sparkles at the Royal Albert Hall with a cheerful ragbag of a setlist A Kylie Christmas Royal Albert Hall, London This is a gig for which Event may be partly responsible. Last December, when Kylie Minogue staged her first Christmas show, I said it should become a tradition. And here she is again, in the same hall, on the same weekend, with the same Santa hat on every seat. But that’s all right because Christmas, like music, runs on repetition. Kylie is as sparkly as anyone in the whole firmament of fame, and the sparkle runs deep. Her smile is the smile of a cancer patient who lived to tell the tale. A natural hostess, she lays on a band, an orchestra, a choir and a confetti snowstorm. Among her many outfits is a mini-dress made of black tinsel. ‘It’s just a little something I threw on,’ she says, knowingly. The setlist is a cheerful ragbag – Christmas chestnuts, her own hits, Night Fever. Kylie struggles with the sultriness of Santa Baby but thrives on the sass of Christmas Wrapping. Her charm holds the show together, right through to I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday, which suits her so well that you wonder if she’s a secret Brummie. Next year, she should do a tour.

2016-12-17 18:01 www.dailymail.co.uk

96 /99 1.1 Touching new Royal portrait captures a tender mother- son moment as the Queen struggles to hold back a laugh at a joke made by Prince Charles It is the way one tells them! This new Royal portrait shows a tender mother-son moment between the Queen and Prince Charles. But sources at the shoot reveal that the touching photograph was taken moments after the Prince of Wales cracked a joke – and captures Her Majesty struggling to hold back a laugh. That would certainly explain her rather fixed expression, as she clasps her hands firmly together on the lap of her Angela Kelly sea-green and dove-grey brocade dress. The image has been released today to mark the end of celebrations in the Queen’s 90th birthday year. It was taken in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle in May. The Queen had been running late from the Royal Windsor Horse Show, and had very little time to dress for dinner. Photographer Nick Knight had just three minutes to get the shot. But despite the rush, the pair are said to be ‘delighted’ with the result. A Palace source added: ‘It shows a real affection between them. There is a lot of good humour between mother and son. It is certainly expected to appear framed in one of the palaces before long.’ Wearing formal black tie, Charles, 68, was said to have been in high spirits during the brief shoot, and in the photograph displays an affectionate grin as he places one hand tenderly on his mother’s back. As a keen horsewoman, the Queen found the Royal Windsor Horse Show a highlight of her birthday celebrations. Earlier that week, she had looked delighted after winning a £50 Tesco gift card after her horse Barber Shop triumphed in a thoroughbred show there. Knight, 58, is one of the most influential fashion photographers in the world and has collaborated with leading designers including John Galliano and Alexander McQueen. His work has been showcased at the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Saatchi Gallery.

2016-12-17 18:01 Charlotte Wace www.dailymail.co.uk

97 /99 1.8 A compelling Ruth Wilson registers every flickering emotion as Hedda Gabler in a dark, devastating, triumphant production for our times Hedda Gabler 2hrs 30mins Lyttelton stage, National Theatre, London Until Mar 21 I’ve never seen a Hedda Gabler who wasn’t encased in a boned, tightly laced corset. Ruth Wilson’s Hedda isn’t even wearing a bra, just a loosely figure-skimming silk slip. It is not corsetry, propriety, a patriarchal society – or being the daughter of a general or wife of a dreary academic – that fence in this Hedda. She creates her own confines by refusing to get out there and create her own identity and embrace life. By turns clever, cruel, self-absorbed, snobbish, mean-spirited, manipulative and bored beyond endurance, her only real talent is for destruction. In one terrifying scene, having dashed dozens of flowers to the floor, she skewers some survivors to the wall with a staple gun. Killing things comes easily to Hedda. But, ultimately, even her most desperate efforts blow up in her face. A compelling Wilson registers every flickering emotion in this vile, mercurial but ultimately pitiable woman. A lusciously alluring smile tightens into a mean, lipless sneer. An icy glare melts into hot, childlike tears of frustration. In Ivo van Hove’s bold, modern-dress staging of Patrick Marber’s spare new version of Ibsen’s 1890 play, the action unravels in a vast, high-tech apartment, near empty but for a grubby uncovered sofa, an upright open piano and her father’s pistols in a glass case on the wall. Look more closely. The room has no doors. It’s a prison, with no escape for Hedda. And the ever-present maid, Berte, in black, is both her jailer and her accomplice. The other characters come and go through the auditorium. As the predatory judge – the only character who sees Hedda for what she is, a coward who has craved power over men and failed even at that – Rafe Spall is chilling, pouring tomato juice over Hedda in a sort of bloody and humiliating baptism, to stir up her revenge. Sinéad Matthews plays Mrs Elvsted, the girl Hedda had shamelessly bullied at school, with a lovely sensuality, which explains why she, and not Hedda, became the muse to Hedda’s former lover, Lovborg (Chukwudi Iwuji). A dark, devastating, triumphant Hedda for our times. Peter Pan Olivier stage, National Theatre, London Until Feb 4 2hrs 30mins There’s something distinctly disconcerting about Paul Hilton’s Peter Pan. He’s not a boy exactly but a spindly, petulant, Puck-ish grown-up who has evidently resisted growing up. When he gets sad and angry, he cuts the heads off his friends’ teddy bears. And he’s at the fractured heart of this playful and provocative – if slightly long – take on J M Barrie’s 1904 tale. Marvellous Madeleine Worrall plays a mumsy Wendy, a dab hand at sewing back Peter’s shadow and telling bedtime stories. Needless to say, she falls for Peter. ‘What are your true feelings for me?’ she boldly asks him. ‘Tiger Lily does this,’ groans emotionally arrested Peter. Funny for us, piercing for Wendy. Just as hearts are worn on sleeves in Sally Cookson’s staging, so the magic is made manifest. Neverland is a graffitied adventure playground where the motherless Lost Boys leap around like monkeys. Flying requires ‘a wonderful thought’ and ‘fairy strings’, actually carefully weighted ropes operated by other members of the cast going up and down on ladders. Anna Francolini doubles as Mrs Darling, in frothy petticoats, and the villainous pirate Captain Hook, with silver teeth, creating two sharply contrasting mother-figures, which was Barrie’s original intention. Meanwhile, Tinker Bell is a man (Saikat Ahamed) in a tutu, but it’s Nana, the canine nanny played by big, beaming, black, boyish Ekow Quartey in white frilly bloomers, who really steals the show. Gatsby Leicester Square Theatre, London Until Jan 15 2hrs Being known as Prince Harry’s ex may be a curse, but Cressida Bonas trails just the right note of high-society glam as Twenties ‘It girl’ Daisy Buchanan. This show is described as a musical but it’s a play with songs by Joe Evans and it opens in an amusement park, fulfilling F Scott Fitzgerald’s description of East Coast decadence as a ‘funfair seen from under dark trees nearby’. The cast double up, drink mint juleps and do the charleston. Bonas overdoes Daisy’s Kentucky drawl but she exudes moonstruck beauty, and Bradley Clarkson’s brutal Tom casts Ludovic Hughes’s nervy, reticent Gatsby in a new light. Unlike Baz Luhrmann’s emotionless film, Linnie Reedman’s seedy-speakeasy production has a real sense of mood. It may look like a load of flappering glitz but it gives you a good swig of the novel’s cocktail of despair and violence. Robert Gore-Langton Mr Popper's Penguins Criterion Theatre, London Until Dec 31 1hr If you are looking for a show for younger children – three and over – then this is highly recommended. A humble house-painter, Mr Popper, has a passion for the Antarctic. One day a crate arrives and out pings a puppet penguin, hilariously handled by two squawking actors. The waddling critter makes a beeline for the goldfish bowl and then the fridge. A second penguin ensures lots of little penguins and a crippling fish bill for the childless Poppers. The answer? They go into showbiz with a family penguin act. The story is based on Richard and Florence Atwater’s Thirties novel (made into a Hollywood film with Jim Carrey) and the hand-made-style staging is by Pins and Needles Productions with cheery, unthreatening songs by Luke Bateman and Richy Hughes. The kids around me seemed to love it. The scenes of baby penguin anarchy roused even the smallest tots from thumb-sucking indifference to roaring approval. A sub-zero but heart-warming family show. Robert Gore-Langton

2016-12-17 18:00 Georgina Brown www.dailymail.co.uk

98 /99 2.0 Keep your spirits up...with warming whiskies and corking cognacs, your very own 'portable firesides' I think I can confidently make one prediction about next year and I’m afraid it’s not good news! The price of wine looks likely to rise in 2017 due to all the recent political turmoil, so for this final column of the year, my advice would be to stock up on your favourite tipple before Christmas. And, as if you needed any added incentive, Christmas is also a great excuse to fire the big guns of whisky and cognac. Both are portable firesides: warming, contemplative and to be treated with respect. While whisky is now a worldwide phenomenon, it’s Scotland that still lures me. Master of Malt is a website that gets my vote, from its Drinks by the Dram taster sets to its 3cl dram Christmas crackers, you can go large or sip small and its range is excellent. While the big names, from Bell’s to Johnnie Walker, are perfectly good, smaller bottlings are the place to rummage for one-off characters. Personally, I buy the gently smokey Laphroaig Islay 12-year-old from highgrovegardens.com for a Christmas treat, or to go all out, anything from the Lagavulin Distiller’s Edition that’s been aged in a PX cask. Cognac, distilled from grapes in south- western France, offers warming notes of vanilla and spices that are spot on for Christmas. Raynaud Sabourin Alliance No 4 VS Cognac is a top-quality bottle to start your cognac career from thewhiskyexchange.com , for £43.45. And try Chevalier Cognac VS from Aldi (£14.99) or XO Monnet Cognac from M&S (£60). There are plenty of big brands to look out for, but I shop at brandyclassics.com , whose Hermitage 2005 remains a favourite. This website is also your best bet to look for a bottle from a birthday year for a gift. I’m a 1974 in case you need to know. May your portable fireside share its warmth with you and yours this Christmas and always.

2016-12-17 18:00 Olly Smith www.dailymail.co.uk

99 /99 3.4 Unite challenger: ‘We have to focus on how to grow unions, not influence in Westminster’ Gerard Coyne fought his first battle on behalf of working people at the age of 17, when he was stacking shelves at Sainsbury’s supermarket in West Bromwich.

“Bad employers always make good recruiters for trades unions,” he says. “We had one particular manager who decided he didn’t want people talking on the checkouts. So I started organising. When we ended, I had the whole store unionised.”

Thirty-two years on, Coyne, 49, is embarking on a quest to become the most powerful figure in the British trade union movement. If he succeeds, it will have far-reaching implications for Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party.

When we meet in a coffee shop next to King’s Cross station in London for his first newspaper interview since launching a challenge to topple Len McCluskey, 66, from the leadership of the super-union Unite , it is McCluskey who he now casts as the bad boss who does not have the interests of working people sufficiently at heart. The current Unite leader, he says at the outset, spends far too much time playing power politics and trying to “pull strings” at Westminster and not enough on the vital issues that affect his 1.4 million members.

He says he cannot remember an occasion in the past three years on which McCluskey actually appeared on site to back Unite members in an industrial dispute. By contrast, his general secretary’s numerous appearances on the media in support of Corbyn and his predecessor Ed Miliband are all too fresh in the mind. “Of course we want to see the election of a Labour government in 2020, but what I want is to get away from this pulling of the strings of the Labour party.”

It is not that Coyne thinks influence with Labour leaders does not matter. He knows it does. But he says the union will exercise even more if it can give better value for money to members and help them face the challenges of mechanisation and technological advance that are threatening their jobs. That, says Coyne, is the route to increasing Unite’s membership and enhancing its reputation.

“If we can grow and show we are playing a real, constructive role in the lives of working people, Labour would be mad not to listen to us. Every morning we have to wake up and think, what is it I do to grow the movement? Not – what is it I do to grow influence [at Westminster]?”

Mechanisation is a “massive issue”, he says. “We have not really grappled with the technological change that most of the world of work is going to be faced with, around manufacturing, food processing, transport. In the next 20 years we are going to be seeing such change … we need to explain it to our members and upskill them to be ready for it.”

The union also needs to “up its game” in promoting the interests of women in the workplace, doing more to push pay equality and flexible working. “We have to make sure we are relevant to women. At the moment these issues are on the back burner.”

Coyne is Unite’s regional secretary in the West Midlands, with more than 25 years of experience at senior levels in the movement. He is one of six brothers from a family of trade unionists and Labour activists. In 2005, he brokered agreements to get 6,500 Rover workers into new jobs after the company went into receivership.

The fast-changing world of work, he says, not only threatens traditional jobs but also the very future of unions. “We have so many challenges that apply to the whole of the British trade union movement. I fundamentally believe in trade unions absolutely to my core. But if we don’t get this right in this generation I fear for the future of the movement.”

Unite is the Labour party’s biggest donor, pumping millions of pounds a year into its coffers. It loans staff to Corbyn’s office. McCluskey appoints Unite members to Labour’s ruling national executive council. It threw hefty financial and other resources behind Corbyn’s two leadership campaigns this year and last. It has huge voting power at party conference. McCluskey is arguably Corbyn’s most important supporter inside or outside parliament.

Unite’s influence also extends into local Labour politics, where many MPs opposed to Corbyn fear local Unite officials are trying to pack their people on to key committees in constituencies, with the ultimate aim of bringing about mass deselections of the disloyal.

Labour MPs are watching this election more closely than any other for many years. One MP and former shadow cabinet member told the Observer it was “by far the most important union moment in our party’s recent history”. That is because if Coyne wins, he will pull it back from the politics and redirect the focus.

Coyne says: “Our members are suffering a tough time at the moment. Average earnings have gone down 10% since 2007; 1.6 million people are on temporary and agency contracts and zero-hours contracts are at nearly a million, having gone up 20% in the last year alone.”

He won’t be drawn on whether he thinks Unite gives too much money to Labour but he notes that the surge in party membership means it is now far less dependent on union cash. If he prevails, he will insist on greater transparency on how Unite spends money. The donations issue will be addressed anew.

There are concerns, he adds, about the £400,000 given by Unite to help McCluskey buy a £700,000 apartment in London. The union says the deal is an “equity share arrangement” which will deliver profits for members when the flat is sold.

Coyne has age on his side in the battle against McCluskey. “When a union has a policy, as Unite does, which is ‘68 is too late’ (to retire), having a general secretary who stays on until he is 71 sends completely the wrong message. We need to bring people who are younger into well paid, good employment.”

He accepts he is the underdog because McCluskey has the union machine at his disposal but says he would not have entered the race if he had not thought he could win. “There have been some elections recently where being the underdog has not been a bad place to be. There is an opportunity for change, for a fresh start, for members to get their union back.”

2016-12-17 18:00 Toby Helm www.theguardian.com

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Created at 2016-12-18 06:07