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DC5m United States cinema in english 100 articles, created at 2016-11-16 12:20 articles set mostly positive rate 6.0

1 0.0 Trump Leaves Press Behind to Dine With Family in New York

(8.89/9) It's just a week after Election Day, but Donald Trump is already having the press eat his dirt. The president-elect ditched the media Tuesday night to have a steak dinner with his family at New York's famed 21 Club. According to the Associated Press... 2016-11-16 00:15 2KB abcnews.go.com

2 0.0 Jakarta governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama named in blasphemy case Jakarta's popular Christian governor is set to stand trial over blasphemy allegations. (7.97/9) The case is being billed as a major test of the Muslim-majority country's reputation for religious tolerance. ... 2016-11-16 02:34 775Bytes article.wn.com

3 0.0 West Virginia town tries to move past Michelle Obama post

(7.67/9) As a small West Virginia community tries to move past the backlash of a racist Facebook post that targeted first lady Michelle Obama, a council member had some inviting words for outsiders who... 2016-11-16 05:02 4KB lasvegassun.com

4 0.0 Syrian President: Trump could be a 'natural ally' Syrian President Bashar Assad says U. S. President-elect Donald Trump could be a (7.64/9) "natural ally" to the Damascus government in its grinding civil war. 2016-11-16 05:28 1KB www.charlotteobserver.com

5 0.0 Officials: 1 killed, 1 wounded in pizza shop shooting One person has been killed and another injured in a shooting at a Pennsylvania pizza shop. It happened late Tuesday night at Porfirio's Pizza and Pasta in Levittown, about (6.54/9) 25 miles northeast of Philadelphia. Officials tell KWY-TV (http://cbsloc.al/2f2MHO7 ... 2016-11-16 00:50 1KB article.wn.com

6 0.0 Kucherov's late goal gives Lightning 4-3 win over Wings

(5.22/9) The Tampa Bay Lightning may be without star Steven Stamkos once again. 2016-11-16 00:59 4KB www.charlotteobserver.com

7 0.0 Costa Rica routs US as Americans drop to 0-2 in qualifying

(4.39/9) The United States put itself in a deep hole in World Cup qualifying with one of its worst performances in decades. 2016-11-16 01:37 5KB www.deseretnews.com 8 0.0 Twitter suspends alt-right accounts The move came the same day the social media service said it would crack down on hate speech. 2016-11-16 01:41 3KB rssfeeds.usatoday.com (3.12/9)

9 0.0 Russia aircraft carrier enters Syria war for first time Beirut • Russian missiles pounded opposition targets in Syria on Tuesday, the start of a much-anticipated offensive, while activists reported the resumption of bombing in rebel- (3.12/9) held neighborhoods of Aleppo for the first time in nearly a month, apparently by Syrian government warplanes. The Russian... 2016-11-16 00:24 1KB article.wn.com

10 0.0 Michigan State humbled by Kentucky, 69-48, at Madison Square Garden

(3.08/9) Bridges, Izzo come away embarrassed after sloppy performance drops Spartans to 0- 2 2016-11-16 03:50 5KB rssfeeds.freep.com

11 0.0 Two French tourists die at Australia’s Great Barrier reef after they suffered heart attacks (2.24/9) Two elderly French tourists have died while snorkelling at a popular dive spot on Australia's Great Barrier Reef after reportedly both suffering from heart attacks on Wednesday morning. 2016-11-16 00:21 3KB www.dailymail.co.uk

12 0.0 Jesus magic lift visitors Brazil over plucky Peru in World Cup qualifier

(2.12/9) An outstanding performance from Gabriel Jesus helped Brazil to a 2-0 win over Peru on Tuesday and moved the five times World Cup winners four points clear at the top of the South American qualifying group for Russia 2018. 2016-11-16 05:49 2KB www.timeslive.co.za

13 0.0 2017 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 ready to chew up trails What is it? An out-of-the-box, off-road ready mid-size pickup didn’t exist until the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 was unveiled on the eve of the 2016 L. A. Auto Show. Just as (2.12/9) the Colorado reinvigorated the moribund (read: dead)... 2016-11-16 03:17 972Bytes article.wn.com

14 0.0 All-new Mazda CX-5 debuts with three engine options LOS ANGELES – Hot on the heels of the freshly redesigned – and downright sexy – (2.12/9) CX-9, Mazda has taken the wraps off its second-generation CX-5 compact crossover at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show. As if the outgoing CX-5 wasn’t already comely enough... 2016-11-16 00:18 1KB article.wn.com 15 0.0 NHL-Highlights of Tuesday's NHL games Nov 15 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of National Hockey League games on Tuesday: Devils 2, Stars 1 (OT) Adam Henrique scored 44 seconds into the (2.07/9) overtime... 2016-11-16 02:23 6KB www.dailymail.co.uk

16 0.0 Lionel Messi leads Argentina in media boycott as squad back team-mate Ezequiel Lavezzi after drug (2.06/9) allegations Argentina's entire 23-man squad turned up to a press conference following their 3-0 win over Colombia in World Cup qualifying, with Lionel Messi calling for 'respect' and announcing a media boycott. 2016-11-16 05:41 3KB www.dailymail.co.uk

17 0.0 GOP governors hope to move fast on making promised changes Republicans are still celebrating their election victories, but the country's GOP governors warned this week that they need to move fast on many of the changes that (2.06/9) have been promised to voters... 2016-11-16 05:02 4KB lasvegassun.com

18 0.0 Yemen war raises questions of war crimes against civilians

(2.06/9) The taxi driver happened by just after a volley of airstrikes hit a highway in western Yemen. The driver, Mohammed al-Khal, stopped, took a wounded ice cream vendor into his car and rushed him to... 2016-11-16 05:02 12KB lasvegassun.com

19 0.0 Megyn Kelly says it’s important to know what Trump did

(2.06/9) Megyn Kelly said Tuesday she didn’t want to reveal much about President-elect Donald Trump’s treatment of her the past year so as to not be accused of trying to tip... 2016-11-16 02:35 705Bytes article.wn.com

20 0.0 Obama, on last trip to Europe, warns against nationalism, populism WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: US President Barack Obama, stung by the surprise (2.04/9) victory of Donald Trump in last week’s US election, warned on Tuesday against a rise in nationalism and said a backlash against globalisation had stoked populist movements at home and abroad. Obama said distrust of... 2016-11-16 02:27 934Bytes article.wn.com

21 0.0 Thailand finds 33 new cases of Zika, says health ministry

(1.15/9) BANGKOK, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Thai health officials on Wednesday said 33 new Zika virus cases have been detected in the country as officials step up screening... 2016-11-16 00:50 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk 22 0.0 VP-Elect Pence Removes Lobbyists From Transition Team: Aide (1.09/9) Vice President-elect Mike Pence, the newly minted head of the White House transition, decided that all lobbyists should be removed from his team, effectively dismantling the structure that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had built, two people familiar with the transition process told ABC News.... 2016-11-16 01:15 1KB abcnews.go.com

23 0.0 Donald Trump Says Electoral College 'Genius' After Calling It 'Disaster' (1.09/9) What a difference four years makes. A newly elected Donald Trump has changed his tune on the Electoral College, calling it "genius" after his win in the presidential election - - a far cry from when he blasted it four years ago. Trump,... 2016-11-16 00:16 2KB abcnews.go.com

24 0.0 Indian foreign minister preparing for kidney transplant

(1.05/9) India's foreign minister says she is undergoing medical tests for a transplant after suffering kidney failure. 2016-11-16 05:18 1KB www.charlotteobserver.com

25 0.0 Russell, Randle push surging Lakers past Nets, 125- 118

(1.05/9) D'Angelo Russell scored 32 points and Julius Randle added 17 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double in the surprising Los Angeles Lakers' 125-118 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night. 2016-11-16 02:14 3KB www.charlotteobserver.com

26 7.7 Winning numbers drawn in 'Fantasy 5' game The winning numbers in Tuesday evening's drawing of the Florida Lottery's "Fantasy (1.05/9) 5" game were: 2016-11-16 00:48 681Bytes www.miamiherald.com

27 0.0 Tuesday’s HS Boys Basketball Roundup: Jairus Hamilton, No. 1 Cannon, get on track

(1.04/9) Rocky River freshman Jaden Springer had a strong debut on a night when Vance got off to a hot start and Sweet 16 No. 1 Cannon got its first win of the season behind star forward Jairus Hamilton 2016-11-16 01:14 4KB www.charlotteobserver.com

28 0.0 Alabama Child Abuse Horror: Adoptive Parents Reportedly Kept 55 Pound Teen Locked In Basement For (1.03/9) Years [Video] Alabama authorities are reportedly trying to come to grips with one of the most shocking case of child abuse they have ever seen, a case that was brought to their attention over the weekend. 2016-11-16 04:09 5KB www.inquisitr.com 29 0.0 Varlamov stops 32 shots as Avalanche beat Kings 4- 1

(1.03/9) Semyon Varlamov had 32 saves, Patrick Wiercioch and Rene Bourque scored 22 seconds apart and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 on Tuesday night. 2016-11-16 00:59 2KB www.charlotteobserver.com

30 0.0 Boris Johnson's Brexit vision 'intellectually impossible' – EU minister (1.02/9) Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem attacks foreign secretary for claiming UK could leave customs union while maintaining free trade with EU 2016-11-16 05:34 3KB www.theguardian.com

31 0.0 A Tribe Called Quest and the Shadow of Trump "We’ve Got It From Here" offers powerful and uplifting music from the hip-hop legends. (1.02/9) 2016-11-16 05:30 5KB www.theatlantic.com

32 0.0 GPS-Tracked Sex Offender to Stand Trial in Serial Killings Opening statements are expected Wednesday in the trial of a sex offender accused of raping and killing four women during a murderous spree in Orange County while (1.02/9) wearing a GPS tracking device. Steven Dean Gordon, 47, of Anaheim is due in an Orange County courtroom on four counts of murder... 2016-11-16 05:27 3KB abcnews.go.com

33 0.0 St. Petersburg's ex-deputy governor faces corruption charges St. Petersburg's ex-deputy governor faces corruption charges Associated Press - 16 (1.02/9) November 2016 03:33-05:00 News Topics: General news, Sports, Embezzlement, 2018 FIFA World Cup, FIFA World Cup, Political corruption, Crime, Events, Political issues,... 2016-11-16 04:58 1KB article.wn.com

34 0.0 Obama's alumni-to-be contemplate life after the White House

(1.02/9) Their BlackBerrys are still buzzing, day and night. For the moment, aides to President Barack Obama still have world leaders to worry about, distant wars to help manage and decisions to make... 2016-11-16 04:58 5KB www.cbs46.com

35 0.0 Colorado recount possible on slavery in state Constitution It seemed like a no-brainer: Colorado's voters were asked to eliminate an archaic and (1.02/9) offensive reference to slavery as a punishment for a crime in the state Constitution. But a week after the vote, the poorly-written amendment is on the cusp of failing,... 2016-11-16 03:50 1KB article.wn.com 36 0.0 Merkel to be the new 'leader of the free world'? The shock election of Donald Trump as US president has forced greater responsibility for defending Western values and interests onto German Chancellor Angela Merkel's (1.02/9) shoulders, analysts say, with some even crowning her the new "leader of the free worl... 2016-11-16 03:20 5KB www.digitaljournal.com

37 0.0 Talib returns to practice before Broncos' bye week Before bolting on a five-day furlough, Aqib Talib returned to practice for the first time since Oct. 28. The star cornerback has missed Denver's last two games with a sore (1.02/9) lower back for which he received a cortisone injection two weeks ago. 2016-11-16 03:13 3KB www.charlotteobserver.com

38 3.7 NBA Capsules CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James had 28 points and 14 assists, Kyrie Irving scored 24 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Toronto Raptors 121-117 on Tue... (1.02/9) 2016-11-16 03:08 4KB www.dailymail.co.uk

39 0.0 Aussie chief selector quits over Test crisis Australia's chairman of selectors Rod Marsh Wednesday quit with immediate effect

(1.02/9) after a run of five heavy Test defeats left the team in crisis, saying it wa... 2016-11-16 02:55 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

40 0.0 Clarkson’s The Grand Tour will be judged ‘via Twitter’, says producer (1.02/9) Media captionTop Gear producer tells Radio 4's Today what to expect from Amazon's new show The Grand TourThe team behind The Grand Tour will use 2016-11-16 00:00 3KB headlinenewstoday.net

41 0.0 Novak Djokovic outlasts Milos Raonic at ATP finals Novak Djokovic continued his quest to regain the World No. 1 ranking by outlasting Canadian Milos Raonic. 2016-11-16 02:43 2KB www.upi.com (1.02/9)

42 3.3 Florida A&M beats Trinity Baptist 94-62. Craig Bowman made three 3-pointers and scored 16 points, Desmond Williams had 14 points and eight rebounds, and Florida A&M beat Trinity Baptist 94-62 on Tuesday (1.02/9) night. 2016-11-16 02:37 1KB www.charlotteobserver.com

43 0.0 Anthony Brooklier, attorney for 'Hollywood Madam,' dies Anthony Brooklier, a prominent and polished Los Angeles lawyer whose clients (1.02/9) included "Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss and his own mob-boss father, has died at age 70. LA County coroner's Lt. ... 2016-11-16 02:35 713Bytes article.wn.com 44 0.0 South Korea prosecutors quiz former vice sports minister Choi Soon-Sil South Korean prosecutors questioned a former vice sports minister on Wednesday as (1.02/9) their probe into the corruption scandal engulfing President Park Geun-Hye spreads to preparations for the 2018 Winter Olympics. ... 2016-11-16 02:18 780Bytes article.wn.com

45 0.0 Australia takes delivery of first P-8A anti-submarine jet Australia's prime minister on Wednesday took delivery of the air force's first Boeing P- (1.02/9) 8A surveillance and anti-submarine aircraft which will take a front-line role in preventing asylum seekers from reaching the Australian coast by boat. ... 2016-11-16 02:08 874Bytes article.wn.com

46 0.0 Wildfires char over 80,000 acres in the parched South

(1.02/9) ATLANTA — Dozens of large wildfires raged on Tuesday in the South, where more than 80,000 acres have burned and where emergency officials faced ominous forecasts of more dry weather and spreading flames. Although the fires often stayed miles from cities and towns, the blazes had... 2016-11-16 00:50 4KB www.post-gazette.com

47 0.0 No. 5 North Carolina rolls past Long Beach State 93- 67 :: WRALSportsFan.com North Carolina keeps sharing the ball and putting up big numbers, proving the fifth- (1.02/9) ranked Tar Heels still have plenty of offensive punch despite losing a lot of production from last year. 2016-11-16 00:31 4KB www.wralsportsfan.com

48 0.0 Social media in China is abuzz over a bird that resembles Trump

(1.02/9) Update on 'Trump names top aides as he begins laying out a White House strategy' 2016-11-16 00:15 1KB www.latimes.com

49 0.0 NPA's tarnished credibility must be quickly restored President Jacob Zuma's request that national director of public prosecutions Shaun Abrahams and two of his colleagues give reasons why they should not be suspended (1.00/9) places the spotlight firmly on the National Prosecuting Authority. 2016-11-16 03:57 2KB www.timeslive.co.za

50 0.0 Hooker's 30 pts leads North Dakota past Mayville St, 94-66

(1.00/9) Quinton Hooker scored 30 points for the fifth time in his career and North Dakota cruised to a 94-66 victory over NAIA Mayville State Tuesday night. 2016-11-16 01:08 1KB www.charlotteobserver.com 51 0.0 Fmr. Secret Service agent talks Trump Tower security (1.00/9) How will the Secret Service deal with the massive challenges presented by Donald Trump's home in the middle of Manhattan? MSNBC's Brian Williams talks to former Secret Service agent Evy Poumpouras. 2016-11-15 23:20 858Bytes www.msnbc.com

52 0.0 Could Common Heartburn Drugs Increase Stroke Risk? - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather,

(0.62/9) Video and Sports A popular category of heartburn medications -- including Nexium, Prevacid, Prilosec and Protonix -- may increase your risk of stroke, a new study suggests. 2016-11-16 05:03 1KB www.news9.com

53 0.0 San Mateo students promote respect, understanding during protest that drew hundreds (0.04/9) Hundreds of students Tuesday stormed out of three San Mateo High schools to protest the results of the presidential election. 2016-11-16 02:00 2KB abc7news.com

54 0.0 Demi Moore, 54, looks frozen in time as she shows off line-free complexion at screening for David O. Russell (0.02/9) and Prada collaboration With her fresh radiant skin and remarkable lack of lines, she could be mistaken for twenty years younger. The 54-year-old showed up looking radiant at the industry event. 2016-11-16 03:06 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

55 0.0 How I view the motion of no-confidence against President Zuma Everytime the DA put forward the motion of no-confidence against President Jacob Zuma is like a test of character to ANC delegates in Parliament. 2016-11-16 05:43 1KB (0.01/9) www.news24.com

56 0.0 Stairway to heaven: Iranian artist’s wall mural turns heads BOSTON >> A giant mural by an Iranian artist making his U. S. debut is turning heads (0.01/9) in one of Boston’s busiest areas. The artwork by Mehdi Ghadyanloo titled “Spaces of Hope” is a stunning expression of optimism he hopes can lead to better understanding... 2016-11-16 02:37 1KB article.wn.com

57 0.0 Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson hang with longtime friends Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw at MOMA tribute (0.01/9) to actor The 60-year-old Sully star and his actress wife Rita Wilson posed with longtime collaborator Steven Spielberg as well as his spouse Kate Capshaw. The event was held in NYC. 2016-11-16 01:02 3KB www.dailymail.co.uk 58 0.0 Devin Brugman and Natasha Oakley flaunt natural curves in bikinis in Bondi Beach snaps (0.01/9) Holding hands, Devin and Natasha flaunted their natural curves as they smiled bright for the camera in candid snaps - not posted to Instagram. 2016-11-16 00:28 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

59 0.0 The Alphabet That Will Save a People From Disappearing As kids, two Guinean brothers invented a new script for their native language. Now they’re trying to get it on every smartphone. 2016-11-16 05:30 21KB www.theatlantic.com

60 0.0 Britain STILL handing out millions of pounds to new superpowers India and China Following widespread concern that money was being frittered away, the new Aid Secretary Priti Patel (pictured) promised an overhaul to make the system 'deliver for our national interests'. 2016-11-16 05:27 4KB www.dailymail.co.uk

61 0.0 Emily Ratajkowski shows off incredibly perky posterior in thong swimsuit The 25-year-old model and actress showed off her incredibly perky posterior in a racy thong swimsuit before peeling her one-piece down to her waist to treat her pals to a sexy topless dance 2016-11-16 05:26 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

62 0.0 Rachael Taylor and Krysten Ritter rock casual chic on set of The Defenders Rachael Taylor, 32, has been spotted in New York filming the Marvel inspired Netflix original series The Defenders in her second role alongside Jessica Jones star Krysten Ritter. 2016-11-16 05:21 1KB www.dailymail.co.uk

63 0.0 ‘Fullmetal Alchemist’ live-action adaptation in the works This time brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric will be making their way to the big screen in the live-action adaptation of Hiroum Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist. 2016-11-16 00:00 2KB entertainment.inquirer.net

64 0.0 How to ditch the tourist traps and explore LA like a local A-Lister From Los Angeles' best hush-hush beauty gurus to the legendary Chateau Marmont - MailOnline Travel sampled more than 30 establishments to uncover the best of Hollywood. 2016-11-16 05:06 19KB www.dailymail.co.uk 65 0.0 The Premier League's greatest ever games: Nos 30- 21 Of the thousands of Premier League games since its inception in 1992, which stand the test of time as the greatest in the history of the competition? Sportsmail counts down the top 50. 2016-11-16 05:05 8KB www.dailymail.co.uk

66 0.0 Senate Dems ready for new leader, GOP staying with McConnell Senate Democrats are turning to Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Brooklyn-bred partisan infighter with a pragmatic streak, to steer them into the Donald Trump era. Republicans are sticking with the genteel Kentuckian, Sen. Mitch McConnell, who lacks Schumer's instinct for soundbites but has been a brutally effective legislative tactician. 2016-11-16 05:03 5KB www.charlotteobserver.com

67 0.0 US forces may have committed war crimes THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- U. S. armed forces and the CIA may have committed war crimes by torturing detainees in Afghanistan, the International Crimina 2016-11-16 05:02 6KB mynorthwest.com

68 0.0 Netflix, NHK Partnership on ‘Trial’ TOKYO — Netflix and Japan’s public broadcaster NHK are partnering on a four-part historical drama to be broadcast next month. NHK will broadcast “Tokyo Trials” about the post-WWII court heari… 2016-11-16 04:51 1KB variety.com

69 0.0 EE UK seals Twitter to promote its TV offering Digital communications giant EE has partnered with Twitter for its UK TV service to introduce ‘Watch with Twitter’ functionality – enabling viewers to see what programmes are trending on social media. 2016-11-16 04:48 1KB www.thedrum.com

70 0.0 DAC Group acquires Edinburgh-based digital agency Ambergreen Edinburgh-based digital agency Ambergreen has been acquired by North American digital media agency DAC Group for an undisclosed fee. 2016-11-16 04:33 2KB www.thedrum.com

71 0.0 Jurors to See Animation of Black Motorist's Shooting Death Jurors in the murder trial of a white former South Carolina patrolman who shot an unarmed black motorist will see an animation of the shooting before the prosecution rests its case. Michael Slager is charged with murder in the April 2015 death of Walter Scott as the motorist fled... 2016-11-16 04:21 1KB abcnews.go.com 72 0.0 Obama to outline vision of democracy in a Trump world US President Barack Obama will Wednesday sketch out his vision of democracy at a time of mounting global populism, seeking to soothe European allies anxious over a Donald Trump presidency. 2016-11-16 04:20 4KB www.digitaljournal.com

73 0.0 Bruno Mars’s New Album Drops In Two Days: Here’s What To Expect Bruno Mars modernizes throwback sounds in his new album, and realizes his Las Vegas dream while filming the title track. 2016-11-16 04:13 2KB www.inquisitr.com

74 0.0 The Big Read: Who let the black swans out? A friend of mine in London sent me an amazing betting statistic. If you had wagered a paltry £5 on a trifecta of Leicester City winning the Premier League in May, Britain voting for Brexit in June and Americans electing Donald Trump president last week, you would... 2016-11-16 04:11 7KB www.timeslive.co.za

75 0.0 Paralyzed woman pleads for thief to return wheelchair accessible car after stolen in Scotts Valley Kendra Kannegaard is the afterschool drama director at Scotts Valley high school. It wasn't that long ago, she was a student there. 2016-11-16 04:11 2KB abc7news.com

76 0.0 Scoop: Old couple alert: Fisher and Ford had ‘Star Wars’ affair It’s official — 40 years after the fact: Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford had an affair during the making of “Star Wars.” The actress confessed that the pair had a … It’s official -- 40 years after the fact: Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford had... 2016-11-16 04:01 3KB www.sfexaminer.com

77 0.0 Bursting the Facebook bubble: we asked voters on the left and right to swap feeds Social media has made it easy to live in filter bubbles, sheltered from opposing viewpoints. So what happens when liberals and conservatives trade realities? 2016-11-16 04:00 10KB www.theguardian.com

78 0.0 People-smuggling: new photos boost claim that wrong man is on trial in Italy Exclusive: Pictures seem to show that man on trial is Medhanie Tesfamariam Berhe rather than smuggler Medhanie Yehdego Mered 2016-11-16 04:00 7KB www.theguardian.com

79 0.0 Reuters Sports News Summary Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. New Euro series designed to stop elite drift to U. S. Tour The European Tour has ramped up efforts to pe... 2016-11-16 04:00 4KB www.dailymail.co.uk 80 0.0 Alex Nunns' new book is insightful – but can't settle the myth of Corbyn The Beauty and the Beast trailer is here, and it looks like a scene-for-scene remake of the cartoon Corbyn gets the court biography treatment in The Candidate, yet the book has little to say about the world beyond Labour's left. 2016-11-16 11:40 7KB www.newstatesman.com

81 0.0 Park Bo-Gum Asia Fan Meeting: Actor’s Agency Confirms Tour Dates The countdown has begun for Park Bo-gum’s fan meetings across Asia. Last week, Blossom Entertainment, the actor’s agency, announced that Park Bo-gum will be 2016-11-16 03:42 2KB www.inquisitr.com

82 0.0 Nordstrom, Ward help Hurricanes beat Sharks 1-0 Joakim Nordstrom scored with 9:12 left, Cam Ward made 22 saves in his first shutout in over a year and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the San Jose Sharks 1-0 on Tuesday night. 2016-11-16 03:41 2KB abc7news.com

83 0.0 Shapiro Tells Megyn Kelly DePaul University Threatening His Arrest For Speaking Is 'Tolerant Enough To Ban It' On Tuesday night, after 30 security officers threatened Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro not to set foot on the DePaul University campus or risk being arrested, even if Shapiro were just a prospective audience member to hear Christina Hoff Sommers speak, Shapiro alerted Sommers and... 2016-11-16 03:39 1KB www.dailywire.com

84 0.0 Longtime Kansas City Star Columnist C. W. Gusewelle Dies C. W. Gusewelle, a longtime columnist for The Kansas City Star, has died. The Star reports ( http://bit.ly/2fTziql ) that Gusewelle died Tuesday. His age and the cause of death were not given. Charles W. Gusewelle joined the Star in 1955 as a general assignment reporter and went... 2016-11-16 03:34 1KB abcnews.go.com

85 0.0 ‘DISGRACE TO THE BAGGY GREEN’ – Aussie papers sound off after Proteas Test series hat-trick Australia’s newspapers‚ often considered part of the challenge touring teams face in this country‚ aimed their guns inward on Wednesday in the wake of South Africa’s Test series triumph. 2016-11-16 03:29 4KB www.timeslive.co.za

86 0.0 Undermanned Chicago Bulls earn best win of the season over Portland The Moda Center in Portland has been a house of horrors for the Bulls in recent seasons, which is why Tuesday's rout felt extra good for Chicago. 2016-11-16 03:28 5KB www.espn.com 87 0.0 Thai court scraps mine defamation case in rare media win A Thai court on Wednesday threw out defamation charges against a news agency for alleging environmental damage by a gold mine, a lawyer said, in a rare win f... 2016-11-16 03:16 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

88 0.0 Katy Perry stuns in off-the-shoulder jumpsuit as she attends Capitol Records' 75th Anniversary Gala The 32-year-old pop diva looked phenomenal in a chic off-the-shoulder jumpsuit as she attended the star-studded affair for Capitol Records' 75th Anniversary Gala on Tuesday. 2016-11-16 03:16 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

89 0.0 Bowie's SA artworks clean up in London British music legend David Bowie's South African art collection fetched R4.2-million at a recent auction in London. 2016-11-16 03:15 2KB www.timeslive.co.za

90 0.0 RHOM's Gina Liano, 50, voices her frustration over the sudden 'need' for her to ditch her signature over-the-top makeup look Real Housewives Of Melbourne's Gina Liano says she doesn't understand why 'everyone suddenly wants me naked with no makeup on' since she turned 50. 2016-11-16 03:12 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

91 0.0 Bouygues keeps outlook as performance at telecoms arm strengthens PARIS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - French conglomerate Bouygues on Wednesday stuck to its pledge to improve profitability this year after it delivered a forecast-beat... 2016-11-16 03:09 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

92 0.0 Bon Jovi tops Billboard New albums from rockers Bon Jovi and R&B singer Alicia Keys took the two top spots on the US Billboard 200 chart on Monday, with the soundtrack for the kids' movie Trolls taking third place. 2016-11-16 03:08 847Bytes www.timeslive.co.za

93 0.0 Jurnee Smollet-Bell announces birth of first child with cute Instagram snap The Friday Night Lights and True Blood star, 30, shared her happy news with her fans with a snap of herself cradling newborn Hunter Zion Bell. She wrote: 'So in love with our little man.' 2016-11-16 03:03 1KB www.dailymail.co.uk

94 0.0 David Carlson who killed Norris Acosta-Sanchez an accused child rapist is found guilty of manslaughter David Carlson (pictured), 46, who fatally shot statutory rape suspect Norris Acosta- Sanchez in 2013, was found guilty Monday in Orange County, New York. He faces up to 25 years in prison. 2016-11-16 03:02 3KB www.dailymail.co.uk 95 0.0 Oil wars: how Kremlin's $13 bln Indian deal almost fell apart By Dmitry Zhdannikov, Nidhi Verma and Katya Golubkova LONDON/NEW DELHI/MOSCOW, Nov 16 (Reuters) - A multi-billion-dollar Russian deal to buy Indian refiner E... 2016-11-16 03:00 7KB www.dailymail.co.uk

96 0.0 Kate Mara and boyfriend Jamie Bell are a chic pair in complementary looks at the premiere of Past Forward The lovebirds embraced classic fashion go-tos for the stylish soiree presented by Prada at the Hauser Wirth Schimmel Gallery in Los Angeles, California, on Tuesday night. 2016-11-16 03:00 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

97 0.0 Well, that bombed! Drunk stag do party miss their trip after joking there was BOMB on a flight to Alicante... before passing out in departures Louis Dodds (pictured) and Mark Harkness were fined £750 and banned from Jet2 flights for life after making the claims at Glasgow Airport before they were due to fly to Alicante. 2016-11-16 03:00 2KB www.dailymail.co.uk

98 0.0 Battle of the Somme recollections released by Imperial War Musuem Notably devoid of jingoism, accounts of hundreds of veterans collected in 1960s form part of centennial remembrance 2016-11-16 03:00 5KB www.theguardian.com

99 0.0 Labour and unions demand action on temp agencies’ tax avoidance Opposition vows to shut down scheme that uses ‘contrived’ financial arrangements to slash national insurance bills 2016-11-16 03:00 8KB www.theguardian.com

100 0.0 Fashion dreams come true with Gert-Johan Coetzee bursary Three people are about to have their lives changed after the winners of the Gert-Johan Coetzee and Luminance bursaries were announced. 2016-11-16 03:00 1KB www.timeslive.co.za Articles

DC5m United States cinema in english 100 articles, created at 2016-11-16 12:20

1 /100 0.0 Trump Leaves Press Behind to Dine With Family in New York (8.89/9) It's just a week after Election Day , but Donald Trump is already having the press eat his dirt.

The president-elect ditched the media Tuesday night to have a steak dinner with his family at New York's famed 21 Club.

Standing ovation and cheers at Keene's steakhouse for @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/zJsA1t00Sk

According to the Associated Press, once reporters found out where Trump was headed, they were not allowed inside the restaurant.

Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said she "wasn't aware of this movement" and would not "leave the press in the dark. "

This isn't the first time the newly minted president-elect has left the press behind.

On his first trip to Washington, DC after getting elected, he and his aides didn't allow press to travel with them, bucking tradition.

"This White House Correspondents’ Association is deeply concerned by President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to reject the practice of traveling with a 'protective pool' of reporters for his first visit to Washington since the election," said White House Correspondents’ Association President Jeff Mason said in a statement. "In addition to breaking with decades of historical precedent and First Amendment principles, this decision could leave Americans blind about his whereabouts and well-being in the event of a national crisis.”

Trump has routinely blasted the media as "dishonest" and "scum. "

Many journalists are honest and great - but some are knowingly dishonest and basic scum. They should.be weeded out!

Trump returned to his Fifth Avenue home around 9:40 p.mn.

Trump breaks protocol - Trump ditches press to eat Trump family dinner raises Trump breaks protocol _ again - on press access dinner out with family issues on press access again _ on press access article.wn.com cbsnews.com charlotteobserver.com miamiherald.com Trump Ditches His Press Trump breaks protocol — Trump breaks protocol on Donald Trump goes out for Pool, Heads to the 21 Club again — on press access press access again New York dinner without feedproxy.google.com lasvegassun.com article.wn.com telling press – video theguardian.com

2016-11-16 00:15 By abcnews.go.com

2 /100 0.0 Jakarta governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama named in blasphemy case (7.97/9) Jakarta's popular Christian governor is set to stand trial over blasphemy allegations. The case is being billed as a major test of the Muslim-majority country's reputation for religious tolerance. ...

Indonesia police name Jakarta governor as blasphemy suspect mynorthwest.com

Jakarta's Christian governor Indonesia Police Name Indonesian police investigate Jakarta governor named to face blasphemy trial over Jakarta Governor as Jakarta governor for suspect in blasphemy case Islam insult claim Blasphemy Suspect blasphemy dailymail.co.uk theguardian.com abcnews.go.com upi.com

Indonesia Says Jakarta’s Indonesian police name Jakarta Governor suspect in Christian Governor Is governor of the country’s blasphemy case, police say Suspected of Blasphemy capital Jakarta as suspect in article.wn.com nytimes.com blasphemy investigation article.wn.com

2016-11-16 02:34 system article.wn.com

3 /100 3 /100 0.0 West Virginia town tries to move past Michelle Obama post (7.67/9) Ross D. Franklin / AP

First lady Michelle Obama waves to the crowd after speaking during a campaign rally for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016, in Phoenix.

By John Raby, Associated Press

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016 | 1:02 a.m.

CLAY, W. Va. — As a small West Virginia community tries to move past the backlash of a racist Facebook post that targeted first lady Michelle Obama, a council member had some inviting words for outsiders who look down on her town.

"Come see us," Joyce Gibson said. "Spend a day with us. If I knew you would come, I would bake a cake. We're very decent people. "

Clay Mayor Beverly Whaling resigned Tuesday and the Town Council later met to accept it. The resignation came after another woman whose post Whaling responded to was placed on leave as director of the nonprofit Clay County Development Corp.

The council meeting was brief, with councilman Jason Hubbard reading a statement condemning the "horrible and indecent" post. He apologized on behalf of the town to Michelle Obama and anyone who was offended.

"Please don't judge the entire community for one or two individual acts," Hubbard said.

The council plans to act quickly to name a replacement for the remaining three years of Whaling's term.

"She was a good mayor, I thought, and she knew how to get things done," Gibson said. "It's just a shame that this has happened. But, you know, there could be good things come out of it. "

She doesn't know what that will be or how the town will repair itself "unless we just go day by day to live like we have lived," Gibson said.

Clay County Development director Pamela Ramsey Taylor made the post following Republican Donald Trump's election as president, saying of incoming first lady Melania Trump: "It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I'm tired of seeing a Ape in heels. "

Whaling responded: "Just made my day Pam. "

Whaling later issued a written apology to news media outlets, saying her comment wasn't intended to be racist.

"I was referring to my day being made for change in the White House! I am truly sorry for any hard feeling this may have caused! Those who know me know that I'm not in any way racist! "

Taylor, who told WCHS-TV on Monday night that she was put on leave, did not return a call seeking comment.

Gibson said the post gave the town of about 500 residents a label it didn't want. After news of the post circled the globe, the small office's voicemail system quickly filled to capacity with irate callers. An online campaign calling for Taylor and Whaling to resign drew tens of thousands of responses.

The nonpartisan town council has five members, plus the town recorder and mayor. Whaling's seat was empty during Tuesday's meeting in a small office attended by a few local residents along with several journalists and some people from outside the area who said they wanted to see justice served.

Annie Thacker of Barrackville drove 117 miles to the meeting.

"I saw what was happening in small town West Virginia," she said. "I'm from small town West Virginia. I wanted to see hate put down in West Virginia, especially after this election cycle. Everyone's watching. "

Lish Greiner of Belpre, Ohio, said she had volunteered during flood cleanup in West Virginia over the summer and returned for the town council meeting because "I will not tolerate hate in my home and in my area. "

Clay County Development, which provides services to elderly and low-income residents in the county, is funded through state and federal grants and local fees. It is not affiliated with the town of Clay, which is about 50 miles east of Charleston.

The uproar occurred as the town is still trying to recover from severe flooding in late June along the nearby Elk River. Clay County also has been hit by hundreds of layoffs in the coal industry this decade.

Gibson was asked what was worse, the flood or the attention from the Facebook post.

"I'll have to think about that," she said. "This (backlash) will go away. "

West Virginia town tries to West Virginia town tries to West Virginia mayor resigns 'Ape in Heels': West Virginia move past Michelle Obama move past Michelle Obama after racist 'ape in heels' mayor quits after racist post - News9.com - post post about Michelle Obama comment about Michelle Oklahoma City, OK - News, charlotteobserver.com independent.ie Obama Weather, Video and Sports article.wn.com news9.com Mayor in W. Virginia resigns Mayor resigned in West Mayor in West Virginia West Virginia mayor resigns after racist post on Michelle Virginia after empathizing resigns after racist Obama after racist Michelle Obama Obama with racist comment blaming post post chicago.suntimes.com Michelle Obama on post-gazette.com article.wn.com Facebook roundnews.com

2016-11-16 05:02 By John lasvegassun.com

4 /100 0.0 Syrian President: Trump could be a 'natural ally'

(7.64/9) Syrian President Bashar Assad says U. S. President- elect Donald Trump could be a "natural ally" to the Damascus government in its grinding civil war.

In an interview published Tuesday with the Portuguese RTP news agency, Assad said his government would need to see if the incoming administration is "genuine" about fighting "terrorists" in Syria.

International observers say Syrian and allied Russian forces regularly strike hospitals, schools, and other civilian infrastructure in opposition-held areas, against international law. Assad maintains he is fighting terrorism.

In the run-up to last week's presidential election, Trump said he was ready to work with Assad to fight against the Islamic State group in Syria.

More than 300,000 people have been killed in the 5-1/2 year-long Syrian civil war.

Syrian President: Trump Philippine president wants to Philippine president wants to Philippine President Wants could be a ‘natural ally’ be friends with Trump, Putin be friends with Trump, Putin to Be Friends With Trump, wtop.com lasvegassun.com thenewstribune.com Putin abcnews.go.com Syria's Assad looks for Trump as President — Becoming a new citizen a Syrian President Assad says ''anti-terror ally'' in Donald traditional, rouge, failed or week after Donald Trump Donald Trump a natural ally Trump authoritarian wins the presidency if he fights 'terror' article.wn.com digitaljournal.com latimes.com article.wn.com

2016-11-16 05:28 The Associated www.charlotteobserver.com

5 /100 0.0 Officials: 1 killed, 1 wounded in pizza shop shooting

(6.54/9) One person has been killed and another injured in a shooting at a Pennsylvania pizza shop. It happened late Tuesday night at Porfirio's Pizza and Pasta in Levittown, about 25 miles northeast of Philadelphia. Officials tell KWY-TV (http://cbsloc.al/2f2MHO7 ) that one person was killed and another wounded. That person was taken to a hospital for treatment. Their condition was not immediately available. It's unclear what led to the shooting. There's no word on any arrests. The investigation is ongoing. ___ Information from: KYW-TV, http://www.kywtv.com ...

Police: Pizza shop customer Police: Pizza Shop Officials say Pennsylvania Officials: 1 killed, 1 wounded shoots 2 robbers, killing 1 Customer Shoots 2 pizza shop customer shoots in pizza shop shooting - cbs46.com Robbers, Killing 1 2 robbers, killing 1 News9.com - Oklahoma abcnews.go.com foxnews.com City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports news9.com

1 killed, 1 wounded in pizza Officials: 1 Killed, 1 Afghan Officials Say Suicide 1 killed, 4 wounded in West shop shooting Wounded in Pizza Shop Bomber Kills 4 in Kabul Side shootings on Tuesday wral.com Shooting abcnews.go.com chicago.suntimes.com abcnews.go.com

2016-11-16 00:50 system article.wn.com

6 /100 0.0 Kucherov's late goal gives Lightning 4-3 win over Wings

(5.22/9) The Tampa Bay Lightning may be without star Steven Stamkos once again.

On the bright side, they're getting good at winning without him.

Nikita Kucherov scored his second goal of the game with 1:10 left, helping the Lightning beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 even after Stamkos left with a lower-body injury.

Stamkos scored early but then exited midway through the first period. He limped off the ice favoring his right leg following a collision with Detroit's Gustav Nyquist along the boards.

"He'll be evaluated again tomorrow," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "It's unfortunate that he couldn't come back, because he was helping us before he got hurt, but it is too early to speculate on anything right now. "

Stamkos missed all but one game during the last postseason after having surgery for a blood clot April 4. Despite his absence, Tampa Bay advanced to the conference finals, where it lost in seven games to the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Stamkos returned for Game 7, a 2-1 loss.

This was Tampa Bay's second win in two nights after beating the New York Islanders 4-0 on Monday night.

Kucherov had three goals and an assist over the two games.

"This is huge for us," Kucherov said. "We just kept executing our game plan and it got us the goal we needed. "

Defenseman Nikita Nesterov also scored for Tampa Bay, which has won five of eight (5-2-1). Vladislav Namestnikov had two assists and Ben Bishop made 25 saves.

Defenseman Ryan Sproul got his first career goal and had an assist, and Frans Nielsen and Henrik Zetterberg also scored for Detroit. Petr Mrazek stopped 18 shots.

"Well we got it close, but we need the points," Zetterberg said. "You can't keep losing games if you want to be a team battling for the playoffs. "

Kucherov one-timed a shot past Mrazek from the inside edge of the left circle off a loose puck — a shot was blocked by Drew Miller and caromed right to Kucherov — for his eighth goal of the season. "I just didn't see the puck coming from the blue line," Mrazek said. "I tried to find it, looking over the shoulder, slide a little bit there. We made a nice block but it went straight onto Kucherov's stick. "

Sproul made it 3-2 with a power-play goal 7:12 into the third period, beating Bishop with a shot from the right circle.

Zetterberg tied it with a power-play goal nearly 2 1/2 minutes later as he put Anthony Mantha's behind-the-back, cross-crease pass into an empty net. It was Zetterberg's third goal.

Nesterov made it 3-1 with a power-play goal 1:29 into the third, beating Mrazek with a screened shot from the blue line in the middle of the ice. It was Nesterov's first goal and point of the season.

Kucherov opened the scoring 3:30 into the game, taking advantage of Mrazek's misplay of the puck behind the net by stuffing the puck in from the side for his seventh.

Stamkos made it 2-0 at 6:09 when he put in a rebound for his ninth.

Nielsen put Detroit on the scoreboard with 1:19 left in the first period. He beat Bishop with a backhand shot from the left circle for his third.

NOTE: Tampa Bay LW Jonathan Drouin missed his seventh game because of an upper-body injury and D Anton Strahlman missed his second game with an upper-body injury. ... Red Wings D Niklas Kronwall did not play because he was resting his knees. He has chronic knee issues and was replaced in the lineup by Sproul.. Detroit C Darren Helm left the game after a hit by Nesterov about five minutes into the third period. Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said there will be an update on Helm on Wednesday,

UP NEXT

Lightning: At Buffalo on Thursday night.

Red Wings: At Washington on Friday night.

Red Wings' power play Red Wings dinged by late NHL roundup: Lightning top Late goal gives Russia win awakens, but Lightning puts goal, lose Helm Red Wings 4-3 with late goal over Romania in Grozny them to sleep, 4-3 rssfeeds.detroitnews.com pressherald.com article.wn.com rssfeeds.freep.com

Kucherov’s late goal gives Lightning 4-3 win over Wings wtop.com 2016-11-16 00:59 The Associated www.charlotteobserver.com

7 /100 0.0 Costa Rica routs US as Americans drop to 0-2 in qualifying (4.39/9) SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — The United States put itself in a deep hole in World Cup qualifying with one of its worst performances in decades.

Taking advantage of defensive mistakes, Costa Rica routed the U. S. 4-0 Tuesday night to drop the Americans to 0-2 for the first time in the final round of the North and Central American and Caribbean region.

"A very, very bitter moment for us. There's no doubt about it," U. S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. "We didn't imagine going into the hexagonal with two defeats right at the beginning. "

Johan Venegas scored in the 43rd minute, Cristian Bolanos doubled the lead in the 69th and second-half substitute Joel Campbell beat beleaguered goalkeeper Brad Guzan in the 74th and 77th minutes in the worst margin of defeat for the U. S. in a qualifier since a 5-1 defeat at Mexico in November 1980.

It was the biggest losing shutout margin in a qualifier since the U. S. fell 6-0 at Mexico in 1957.

Combined with Friday's 2-1 loss to Mexico at Columbus, Ohio, the U. S. finds itself in a quick deficit in the hexagonal, which resumes in March.

"I'm very disappointed, obviously," U. S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said. "There's obviously some concern. Mexico qualified with 12 points. There's a lot of points left on the board — 24 to be exact. "

Ticos fans sounded air horns at the end of a match that reignited questioning of Klinsmann's tactics. The U. S. dropped to 0-9-1 in qualifiers at Costa Rica.

Klinsmann is still confident he's the right person to lead the team, but understands the scrutiny.

"When you lose two games and obviously two World Cup qualifiers right after each other, there will be a lot of comments," he said.

The Americans, who had had not lost a home qualifier in 15 years before last week, figure they will win their four remaining home games and pick up points on the road.

The top three teams qualify for the 2018 tournament in Russia, and the No. 4 finisher advances to a playoff against Asia's fifth-place nation. "There's going to need to be some urgency," U. S. captain Michael Bradley said. "We're going to have to look collectively real hard in the mirror at ourselves and understand it's not been a good start but the reality of this hexagonal format is that nothing is lost yet, not even close. So anybody who thinks that is sorely mistaken. "

Central defenders John Brooks and Omar Gonzalez, and right back Timmy Chandler had particularly poor games. Brooks and Omar Gonzalez started in the center of the back line. Geoff Cameron, who usually starts alongside Brooks, missed both qualifiers this month after hyperextending a knee during Stoke's Premier League match against Hull on Oct. 22.

Costa Rica, which won its opener 2-0 at Trinidad and Tobago, went ahead after a Brooks giveaway. Randall Azofeifa took a short pass from Jose Salvatierra in the center circle and played a long ball into the corner, where Bolanos ran it down on its third bounce. Gonzalez was slow to close on Bolanos, who crossed for Venegas just outside the 6-yard box. Bolanos beat Brooks to the ball and sent a header across Guzan for his seventh goal in 30 international appearances.

Bolanos scored after a turnover by 18-year-old midfielder Christian Pulisic near midfield. Salvatierra sent a pass down the flank to Venagas, and his cross found Bolanos in front, with Chandler a step late.

Ronald Matarrita created the final two goals by Campbell. On the last goal, Campbell took the ball over Brooks' right foot as the American defender stabbed to make a play to no avail. He was a step behind all night on the slick, chunked-up turf.

"I said to the team that it won't be the last 4-nil defeat in their career," Klinsmann said. "We'll get here some lessons but definitely it's a bitter moment because we wanted to do far, far better than what we did. "

There was some whistling during "The Star-Spangled Banner" from the capacity crowd of about 35,000 in Estadio Nacional, where the field is surrounded by an athletics track and crowd noise dissipates — even from a band in the second deck. The venue appears less intimidating to visitors than old Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, where fans were directly behind the benches.

Chandler at right back and midfielder Jermaine Jones are suspended for the next qualifier, at home on March 24 against Honduras, because of yellow-card accumulation. Both were cautioned by Mexican referee for fouls against Costa Rica captain Bryan Ruiz, Chandler in the 11th minute and Jones in the 37th.

Costa Rica, a 2014 World Cup quarterfinalist, nearly went ahead in the 14th minute when Bolanos centered for Ruiz, who chested the ball and sent an overhead kick directly into Guzan's face. And in the 57th, Venegas beat Chandler to a punt by Navas and had a clear shot on Guzan, who made a leg save.

While Bolanos repeatedly sliced diagonal long balls through the midfield, the U. S. rarely threatened. Pulisic took a pass from Jones in the 20th, dribbled to the end line and crossed, but Bobby Wood couldn't get to the ball before goalkeeper Keylor Navas. Wood slid the ball behind Navas in the 41st, but the U. S. didn't have anyone in front.

Notes: Honduras (2-0) beat visiting Trinidad and Tobago 3-1 on goals by Romell Quioto in the 16th, Emilio Izaguirre in the 19th and Eddie Hernandez in the 80th. Carlyle Mitchell scored in the 51st for the Soca Warriors (0-2). ... Mexico played to a 0-0 draw at Panama. U.S. in World Cup trouble Costa Rica 4-0 USA: Costa Rica Pummels the U.S. men’s soccer suffers after losing 4-0 to Costa Lifeless Americans U.S. and Puts World Cup calamitous loss to Costa Rica hammered in World Cup Qualifying in Doubt Rica in World Cup qualifier dailymail.co.uk qualifier nytimes.com article.wn.com article.wn.com

United States falls to Costa Rica in World Cup qualifier rssfeeds.usatoday.com

2016-11-16 01:37 Ronald Blum www.deseretnews.com

8 /100 (3.12/9) 0.0 Twitter suspends alt-right accounts SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter suspended a number of accounts associated with the alt-right movement, the same day the social media service said it would crack down on hate speech.

Among those suspended was Richard Spencer, who runs an alt-right think tank and had a verified account on Twitter.

The alt-right, a loosely organized group that espouses white nationalism, emerged as a counterpoint to mainstream conservatism and has flourished online. Spencer has said he wants blacks, Asians, Hispanics and Jews removed from the U. S.

Twitter on Tuesday removed Spencer's verified account, @RichardBSpencer, that of his think tank, the National Policy Institute @npiamerica, and his online magazine @radixjournal.

"This is corporate Stalinism," Spencer told The Daily Caller News Foundation. In a YouTube video , entitled Knight of the Long Knives, an apparent reference to the purge of Nazi leaders in 1934 to consolidate Adolf Hitler's power, Spencer said Twitter had engaged in a coordinated effort to wipe out alt-right Twitter.

"I am alive physically but digitally speaking there has been execution squads across the alt right," he said. "There is a great purge going on and they are purging people based on their views. "

Twitter declined to comment on the suspensions, which included the accounts of Paul Town, Pax Dickinson, Ricky Vaughn and John Rivers.

"We don't comment on individual accounts, for privacy and security reasons," the company said in an emailed comment. Twitter was the platform of choice for the campaign of President-elect Donald Trump and the alt- right political movement that embraced him. The alt-right used social media to spread its cause of white supremacy, operating largely unchecked by social media giants Twitter and Facebook.

Heidi Beirich, spokeswoman for the Southern Poverty Law Center, told USA TODAY that the center had asked Twitter to remove more than 100 accounts of white supremacists who violated Twitter's terms of service.

"They have done nothing," Beirich said on Monday.

She also pointed to two alt-right accounts that had been verified by Twitter, including Spencer's.

Twitter says it verifies an account by giving it a blue check mark when "it is determined to be an account of public interest. " Twitter launched the feature in 2009 after celebrities complained about people impersonating them on the social media service.

Twitter has suspended alt-right accounts in the past but never so many at once.

In one of the highest-profile bans, Twitter removed the account of Milo Yiannopoulos, a technology editor at the conservative news site Breitbart in July. He had engaged in a campaign of abuse in which hundreds of anonymous Twitter accounts bombarded Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones with racist and sexist taunts. Before banning Yiannopoulos, Twitter stripped him of his verified status.

Spencer said he supported Yiannopoulos and didn't think he should have been banned from Twitter. But, he said in his YouTube video, "Milo was engaging in something that could be called harassment. "

"The fact is that I, and a number of other people who have just got banned, weren't even trolling," he said. "I was using Twitter just like I always use Twitter, to give people some updates and maybe to comment on a news story here and there. "

A guide to the language of How Bannon coaxed Trump Glenn Beck: The alt-right is the 'alt-right' in alt-right shift truly terrifying latimes.com article.wn.com rss.cnn.com

2016-11-16 01:41 Jessica Guynn rssfeeds.usatoday.com

9 /100 0.0 Russia aircraft carrier enters Syria war for first time

(3.12/9) Beirut • Russian missiles pounded opposition targets in Syria on Tuesday, the start of a much- anticipated offensive, while activists reported the resumption of bombing in rebel-held neighborhoods of Aleppo for the first time in nearly a month, apparently by Syrian government warplanes. The Russian blitz began hours after President Vladimir Putin and U. S. President- elect Donald Trump discussed Syria in a phone call and agreed on the need to combine efforts in the fight against what the Kremlin ca... Russia announces major operation in Syria post-gazette.com

Donald Trump, Syria, Russia: Your Wednesday Briefing nytimes.com

Russia launches major offensive against rebels in Syria, using aircraft carrier for first time scmp.com

2016-11-16 00:24 system article.wn.com

10 /100 0.0 Michigan State humbled by Kentucky, 69-48, at Madison Square Garden (3.08/9) NEW YORK – Miles Bridges turned the ball over.

Miles Bridges rotated too slowly on defense.

Miles Bridges missed a tomahawk dunk.

He’s human. He’s a freshman. And he and Michigan State were no match for No. 2 Kentucky Tuesday night in the Champions Classic.

The 13th-ranked Spartans endured much of the same inconsistency they experienced in Friday’s season-opener against Arizona, with stretches of strong play and longer spurts of mistakes. And Kentucky slowly pulled away to a 69-48 victory.

“I felt really embarrassed,” Bridges said after finishing with more turnovers than points in his second college game. “I felt like I let my whole team down. … I feel like I just have to keep getting better.”

Kentucky (3-0) outscored MSU, 6-2, to close the first half and then opened the second period with an 11-5 run. The Spartans (0-2) never got within double digits after that.

MSU opens its home slate with a pair of 7 p.m. games at Breslin Center this weekend, against Mississippi Valley State on Friday and Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday.

After scoring 21 points in his debut, Bridges finished with a more pedestrian six points on 2 of 11 shooting and 12 rebounds. However, the 6-foot-7 phenom from Flint also committed nine turnovers and looked out of sync all night against the long, swarming Wildcats defenders.

► Related : Couch: MSU must go younger to get better

When Tom Izzo pulled him out of the game with about 45 seconds left, Bridges put his arm around his coach and his head on his shoulder in frustration. He told Izzo he was “sorry” for his performance and “promised him it wouldn’t happen again.”

Izzo had a message for Bridges as well: “I said, ‘Miles, welcome to the real world. No more high school. You’re gonna get doubled, you’re gonna get this, you’re gonna get that. Just register and learn, because this is part of the process.’”

The Spartans shot just 32.8% for the game and committed 20 turnovers and 20 personal fouls. No one scored in double figures as Kenny Goins and Cassius Winston led MSU with nine points each.

MSU did outrebound the taller Wildcats, 44-40, for the game while holding the Wildcats to 38.3% shooting for the game.

“I’m actually a little embarrassed,” Izzo said, echoing Bridges. “I felt like we competed defensively for the most part. We just didn’t do anything offensively. We looked like a team that was an AAU team – just went one-on-one, didn’t move the ball, got frustrated.”

► Related : Notes: Freshmen struggle under bright lights vs. Kentucky

Kentucky freshman Malik Monk led all scorers with 23 points, including seven three-pointers. Sophomore Isaiah Briscoe added 21 for the Wildcats.

Many of the same problems that plagued the Spartans against Arizona in Honolulu followed them to Madison Square Garden – only this time, Bridges struggled to bail them out, in large part because of the attention Kentucky focused on stopping him.

“We did a couple things knowing that if he got going, he was going to be a beast,” said Kentucky coach John Calipari, adding that he scouted MSU’s game films against Arizona and Saginaw Valley State to scheme for Bridges. “He had 12 rebounds, guys. Just the way we played, we made it very difficult for him to just play basketball. And Tom will use that and show him, and they’ll come up with stuff.”

MSU kept things close for the first six-plus minutes. Matt McQuaid’s three-pointer tied Kentucky, 12-12, before the Wildcats went on a 14-2 run, capped by Monk’s fourth three-pointers in the half.

But like they did in Hawaii, the Spartans rode waves of good play with their young lineup. Nick Ward got a rebound putback, Joshua Langford drained a pair of three-pointers and Bridges drove baseline for a two-hand dunk. It was part of a 4-minute, 10-2 run that got MSU back within four points.

But defensive lapses continued. A well-defended lob for Langford turned into a layup for Briscoe in transition, and the Kentucky sophomore sliced between a pair of Spartans as time expired to send the Wildcats into the locker room with a 34-26 cushion.

Bridges, especially, typified the up-and-down play of MSU in the first half. He grabbed seven rebounds and blocked two shots. He also was just 1 of 4 from the floor for three points, missing a pair of three-point tries, and turned the ball over five times.

Bridges opened the second half with a three-pointer, but Kentucky dashed off nine of the next 11 points, capped by another Monk triple to build its lead to 45-31.

“I knew college basketball was difficult,” Bridges said. “I wasn’t listening to (Tum Tum Nairn) and Iz when they were telling me to stay calm, slow down and let the game come to me. I was trying to force thing, and that’s how I feel like turned the ball over a lot.

“I just gotta listen to my leaders on our team and trust our offense in the process.”

Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!

Coach K breaks down Malik Monk, Isaiah Briscoe Kentucky 69, Michigan State Duke's loss to Kansas at lead No. 2 Kentucky over 48 Madison Square Garden No. 13 Michigan State rssfeeds.detroitnews.com newsobserver.com upi.com

2016-11-16 03:50 Chris Solari rssfeeds.freep.com

11 /100 0.0 Two French tourists die at Australia’s Great Barrier reef after they suffered heart attacks (2.24/9) Two French tourists have died while snorkelling at a popular dive spot on Australia's Great Barrier Reef Water police have arrived at Michaelmas Cay off the coast of Cairns, where an elderly man, 76, and a woman, 74, were found unconscious in the water just after 11am local time after reportedly both suffering from heart attacks. A third French tourist travelling with the group is believed to have had an anxiety attack and has been taken to hospital. Scroll down for video The three were part of a group of 21 elderly French tourists on board the Passions of Paradise catamaran, traveling to Michaelmas Cay on Wednesday. Temperatures had reached a sweltering to 31 degrees. Passions of Paradise CEO, Scotty Garden said the man and woman who died 'had pre-existing medical conditions and were accompanied by a guide when they were in the water.' A lookout on the beach had spotted a man floating in the water and pulled him onto the sand where he performed CPR. Another lookout on the boat then saw a woman floating in the water and pulled her onto the catamaran where an attempt to resuscitate her was also made. Tragically, despite using using oxygen and defibrillation equipment, the two could not be saved. Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators executive director Col McKenzie said tour operators and an off- duty doctor worked hard to treat all three tourists. 'We think the gentleman that died and was retrieved onto the beach had a heart attack,' Mr McKenzie told Daily Mail Australia. 'The lady (who) died had indicated some significant health issues but I'm not sure whether it's a heart attack or one of those other issues.' A doctor from a nearby boat helped with resuscitation efforts and declared the two snorkelers dead. A third person, a member of the French party, was taken to Cairns Base Hospital but is 'up and walking around'. Mr McKenzie believes they may have had 'an anxiety attack'. 'He's obviously seeing his friends in this instance getting in serious trouble,' he said. A Queensland Police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia: 'At this stage, we don't believe the deaths are suspicious.' The incident follows a spate of snorkelling deaths off Far North Queensland in recent months. A Japanese tourist, 67, died after snorkelling off Green Island last month. A Korean tourist, 23, died snorkelling at Lizard Island, near Cooktown, earlier in October.

Official says 2 French divers 2 French tourists die while Two French snorkellers die 2 French Tourists Die While die on Great Barrier Reef snorkeling on Great Barrier on same Great Barrier Reef Snorkeling on Great Barrier dailymail.co.uk Reef tour Reef mynorthwest.com dailymail.co.uk abcnews.go.com

Two French tourists die at Great Barrier Reef dailymail.co.uk

2016-11-16 00:21 Daniel Piotrowski www.dailymail.co.uk

12 /100 0.0 Jesus magic lift visitors Brazil over plucky Peru in World Cup qualifier (2.12/9) Two second half goals, Manchester City-bound Gabriel Jesus scoring the first and setting up the second for Renato Augusto, gave Brazil the points in Lima against a home team that played well for no reward.

"I am working hard, quietly, hoping to help my team mates on the pitch," the 19-year old striker told TV Globo after the game.

"There are lot of players in Brazil who can wear the No. 9 but I am proud that I have this opportunity. I am proud to be honouring the shirt. "

Peru had never beaten Brazil in 10 previous World Cup qualifying matches but they took the game to their more illustrious visitors and were unlucky to come up against two clinical finishers.

The Palmeiras forward, who will join Manchester City in January, got the first 12 minutes into the second half when the ball fell kindly to him to hammer home from 13 yards.

He turned provider 21 minutes later, laying the ball off to Renato Augusto in space and the Beijing Guoan midfielder made no mistake from 12 yards.

The result was a trifle harsh on Peru, who hit the post early on and were not overawed, particularly in an even first half.

The result marked the first time since 1969 that Brazil have won six consecutive qualifying matches for the same tournament.

Brazil now lead the table with 27 points from 12 games, four more than second-placed Uruguay.

The top four teams qualify automatically for Russia 2018 and the fifth-placed side goes into a play-off with a team from Oceania.

In the day's earlier games, Ecuador beat Venezuela 3-0 to stay in third, while a late own goal from Gustavo Gomez gave Bolivia a 1-0 win over Paraguay in La Paz.

Chile beat Uruguay 3-1 to climb into fourth spot, and Argentina, with a beautiful free kick from Lionel Messi, beat Colombia 3-0 to snap a four-game winless streak and move into fifth place.

Lionel Messi magic puts Peru 0-2 Brazil: Gabriel Peru 0-2 Brazil: Jesus Second half brilliance lifts Argentina back on World Jesus inspires victory with inspires Tite's men to sixth Brazil over plucky Peru Cup track goal and assist for Renato successive win dailymail.co.uk timeslive.co.za Augusto to secure place at article.wn.com the top of South American World Cup qualifying dailymail.co.uk

2016-11-16 05:49 REUTERS www.timeslive.co.za

13 /100 13 /100 0.0 2017 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 ready to chew up trails

(2.12/9) What is it? An out-of-the-box, off-road ready mid-size pickup didn’t exist until the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 was unveiled on the eve of the 2016 L. A. Auto Show. Just as the Colorado reinvigorated the moribund (read: dead) mid-size pickup

Chevrolet Colorado boosts Chevy Colorado ZR2 Chevy Colorado ZR2 off-road appeal with ZR2 revealed, LA Auto Show pickup: Off-road animal rssfeeds.freep.com rssfeeds.detroitnews.com rssfeeds.detroitnews.com

2016-11-16 03:17 system article.wn.com

14 /100 0.0 All-new Mazda CX-5 debuts with three engine options

(2.12/9) LOS ANGELES – Hot on the heels of the freshly redesigned – and downright sexy – CX-9 , Mazda has taken the wraps off its second-generation CX-5 compact crossover at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show. As if the outgoing CX-5 wasn’t already

Mazda unveils new CX-5 crossover SUV rssfeeds.detroitnews.com

Mazda unveils 2017 CX-5 L.A. Auto Show 2016: concept at Automobility LA Mazda has a new CX-5 rssfeeds.detroitnews.com latimes.com

2016-11-16 00:18 system article.wn.com

15 /100 (2.07/9) 0.0 NHL-Highlights of Tuesday's NHL games Nov 15 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of National Hockey League games on Tuesday: Devils 2, Stars 1 (OT) Adam Henrique scored 44 seconds into the overtime to give New Jersey their fifth succesive victory. Henrique tapped in a pass from Kyle Palmieri off the rush for New Jersey. Cory Schneider stopped 23 of 24 shots for the Devils. Patrick Eaves scored for Dallas. New Jersey struck first when Damon Severson scored from the slot 7:40 into the game to give the visitors an early lead. Dallas answered at 10:33 of the first when Antoine Roussel fed Eaves from the slot and he beat Schneider to his short side for the equalizer. Schneider denied Adam Cracknell twice in succession in the second period. The Devils had a great chance to regain the lead in the waning seconds of the middle frame, but Bennett's backhand on a breakaway instead deflected off the near post 42 seconds before the second intermission. Antti Niemi stopped 31 of 33 shots in a losing effort for Dallas. Maple Leafs 6, Predators 2 James van Riemsdyk scored three goals and added an assist while Tyler Bozak had three assists as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Nashville Predators. Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists, and Leo Komarov and William Nylander each scored for the Maple Leafs, who had 32 saves from goaltender Frederik Andersen. James Neal and Viktor Arvidsson scored for the Predators while Marek Mazanec stopped 26 shots. Flames 1, Wild 0 An early power-play goal by Johnny Gaudreau held up as Calgary snapped a four-game losing skid, beating Minnesota. Gaudreau's goal was just the fifth that Calgary managed in the past five games. Goalie Chad Johnson added 27 saves. The Wild got 26 saves from goalie Devan Dubnyk. Jets 4, Blackhawks 0 Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck stopped 27 shots in posting his first shutout of the season and third of his career. The Jets opened the scoring early in the game when rookie defenseman Josh Morrissey's slap shot from the high slot squeaked through Corey Crawford's pads at 6:26 for his first NHL goal. The Jets doubled the lead when right winger Chris Thorburn beat Crawford with a spin-around snapshot from the hash marks at 4:41 of the third period. The Jets stretched the lead to 3-0 when rookie Finnish phenom Patrik Laine snapped home a rebound for his league-leading 12th goal of the season. Left winger Nic Petan completed the scoring 11 seconds later. Blues 4, Sabres 1 Jaden Schwartz and Kyle Brodziak scored 1:35 apart early in the third period to give St. Louis victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Schwartz broke a 1-1 tie 44 seconds into the third period, scoring off the rebound of a shot by right winger Dmitrij Jaskin. Brodziak followed with his first goal of the season at 2:19 while left winger Scottie Upshall added an empty-net goal for the final margin. The victory broke a three- game winless streak for the Blues while the Sabres are winless in their last five games. Lightning 4, Red Wings 3 Nikita Kucherov's second goal of the game, with 1:10 left, gave Tampa Bay a win over Detroit. Captain Steven Stamkos and defenseman Nikita Nesterov also scored for Tampa Bay, who got 25 saves from Ben Bishop. Defenseman Ryan Sproul got his first career goal and had an assist, Frans Nielsen and captain Henrik Zetterberg scored for Detroit. Petr Mrazek stopped 18 shots. Panthers 4, Canadiens 3 (OT) Aaron Ekblad scored the overtime winner to lift Florida to a win over Montreal. Alex Petrovic, Kyle Rau and Denis Malgin also scored for the Panthers. Carey Price made 20 saves for the Canadiens, while Roberto Luongo stopped 34 shots for Florida. Senators 3, Flyers 2 (SO) Erik Karlsson scored the only goal of a five-round shootout to lead Ottawa to a win over Philadelphia. Kyle Turris sent the game into overtime with a wraparound goal on Flyers goaltender Steve Mason with 1:59 remaining in regulation. The Senators also received a goal from Mark Stone in the win. Blue Jackets 2, Capitals 1 (OT) Columbus's Cam Atkinson buried a wrist shot off the faceoff in the Capitals zone for the game-winning goal just 37 seconds into overtime. Rookie Zach Werenski scored his fifth goal of the season. Hurricanes 1, Sharks 0 Joakim Nordstrom scored his first goal of the season midway through the third period as Carolina defeated San Jose. Goaltender Cam Ward made 22 saves for the Hurricanes. NY Rangers 7, Canucks 2 Kevin Hayes and J. T. Miller scored two goals apiece as the New York Rangers defeated the Vancouver Canucks. Mats Zuccarello added a goal and two assists. Brandon Pirri and Nick Holden also scored, both on the power play, for the Metropolitan Division-leading Rangers. Jesper Fast, Kevin Klein and Mika Zibanejad added two assists apiece. Brandon Sutter and Markus Granlund scored for Vancouver. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 36 shots for New York. Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 18 saves. Avalanche 4, Kings 1 Patrick Wiercioch and Rene Bourque scored goals 22 seconds apart while Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves as Colorado beat Los Angeles. Wiercioch also had an assist and Blake Comeau scored in his return to the lineup for Colorado. Gabriel Landeskog scored an empty-net goal. Dustin Brown scored for Los Angeles and Peter Budaj stopped 26 shots against his former squad. Ducks 4, Oilers 1 Goalie John Gibson made a season-high 33 saves and Ryan Kesler scored his team-leading seventh goal in Anaheim's win over Edmonton. Nick Ritchie, Cam Fowler and Antoine Vermette also scored while Corey Perry added two assists for the Ducks. Leon Draisaitl scored his fourth goal and goalie Cam Talbot stopped 23 shots for the Oilers.

Devils storm to fifth straight Henrique Nets Overtime NBA-Highlights of Tuesday's win with more overtime Winner As Devils Beat NBA games heroics Dallas 2-1 dailymail.co.uk nypost.com newyork.cbslocal.com

2016-11-16 02:23 Reuters www.dailymail.co.uk

16 /100 0.0 Lionel Messi leads Argentina in media boycott as squad back team-mate Ezequiel Lavezzi after drug allegations (2.06/9) Lionel Messi is leading an Argentina media boycott after the national team took a stand in backing team-mate Ezequiel Lavezzi following accusations of drug use. Argentina's entire 23-man squad turned up to a post-match press conference in the aftermath of their 3-0 win over Colombia in World Cup qualifying on Tuesday, with Messi calling for 'respect' and announcing that no players would answer questions. The stance follows claims by an Argentine radio journalist, published on Twitter, that suggested team-mate Lavezzi had been caught smoking cannabis while on national team duty ahead of Tuesday night's game. Argentina's players have become increasingly frustrated with reports in their own media during the team's struggles in World Cup qualifying. Tuesday's victory was their first in five matches in the South American group and moved them up to fifth – the play-off position for a place in Russia in 2018. Despite the relief of the occasion, the players refused to speak, with Messi leading their protest. 'We have made the decision not to talk to the press any more, obviously you know why,' Messi said. 'There were a lot of accusations, a lot of disrespect, and the accusations they made against 'Pocho' (Lavezzi) are very serious. 'We know that most of you guys don't play that game of disrespect. We can be criticised if we lose, or win, or if we play well or badly. But this is getting into personal lives. 'If we don't put a stop to it now, we'll never stop it.' Lavezzi stood alongside Messi as he spoke on behalf of the squad. The row surrounds an allegation from reporter Gabriel Anello, who works for Argentine radio station Radio Mitre. Anello had tweeted: 'Lavezzi is left off the substitutes' bench tomorrow because of the joint that was smoked last night in the camp? I'm asking... just asking.' Hebei China Fortune winger Lavezzi is set to take legal action against the journalist involved in what he calls: 'False statements against me and the serious damage that have generated to my family and in my work.' The entire squad walked out after Messi's brief message. The Barcelona star was back to his best on Tuesday night to inspire his country to victory in San Juan with a goal and two assists in the 3-0 win over Colombia. Messi calmed Argentina nerves with a brilliant free-kick 10 minutes in before setting up Lucas Pratto and Angel di Maria to revive their qualification hopes. Argentina overtook Tuesday night's opponents with their victory to move back into contention for the 2018 World Cup. With six games remaining and qualification set to resume in March of next year, Argentina are now in a position that would bring them a favourable qualifying play-off against a team from the Oceania region. They welcome Chile in March before an away game against Bolivia in the next round of international fixtures.

Messi leads Argentina team Lionel Messi magic puts ban on talking to media Argentina back on World article.wn.com Cup track timeslive.co.za

2016-11-16 05:41 Oliver Todd www.dailymail.co.uk

17 /100 0.0 GOP governors hope to move fast on making promised changes (2.06/9) By Gary Fineout, Associated Press

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016 | 1:02 a.m.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Republicans are still celebrating their election victories, but the country's GOP governors warned this week that they need to move fast on many of the changes that have been promised to voters.

The Republican Governors Association held its annual conference at a resort near Disney World this week where several governors talked eagerly about how the election of Donald Trump could herald sweeping changes on everything from health care to education.

But many of them said those changes need to come soon before the nation and Republican leaders get caught up in the 2018 election cycle.

"We cannot squander this opportunity," said Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey.

Republicans now control the White House and Congress. And Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker pointed that this was the first time there has been this many GOP governors across the country since the 1920s.

Many of them were excited Tuesday about what could come next.

"The sky's the limit," Walker said. "There's no end to the good we can do. "

Walker and other governors ticked off a long list of areas they would like to gain more control over whether it was education, transportation, workplace rules, health care or environmental policies. But they said some of these policies need to be tackled within Trump's first 100 days.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott contended that Democrats and their allies would do what they could to stop Republicans.

"The empire will strike back," said Scott, referencing the title of one of the "Star Wars" movies. "You can be sure they are right now planning to stop us from making real changes. "

Most of the GOP governors mentioned health care when discussing their top priorities.

But it became evident they are not in complete agreement on how to unwind President Barack Obama's health care overhaul that included an expansion of Medicaid, the nation's main safety net health care program for the poor. An estimated 20 million Americans are now receiving coverage through different elements of the overhaul including Medicaid or through health care exchanges that offer insurance policies.

Scott called the overhaul a "disaster" and said Republicans need to repeal it entirely. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, however, said she expected people to continue to enroll for insurance using health care exchanges as long as it's the law and that they can't just take away insurance from people who have it now.

"I don't know that there will ever be a turn off the switch, wait a period of time and then turn it back on," said Martinez. "There is going to have to be a transition and not leave everyone uninsured. "

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who noted that Medicaid was expanded in his state prior to his election, called for a "thoughtful approach" to revamping health care and said he wants the ability to put in additional requirements for Medicaid recipients such as work requirements. Hutchinson has tried to win federal approval for some of his ideas but said he had been "stymied" by the Obama administration.

"We have the opportunity to do things we cannot do now," Hutchinson said.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called it a "new day" for statehouses across the country, but she added her own admonition.

"We can't celebrate too long, we've got to get to work," Haley said. "And that means 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 120 days, all of us have to get to work. " GOP governors hope to GOP governors hope to move fast on making move fast on making promised changes - promised changes News9.com - Oklahoma washingtontimes.com City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports news9.com

2016-11-16 05:02 By Gary lasvegassun.com

18 /100 0.0 Yemen war raises questions of war crimes against civilians (2.06/9) By Maggie Michael and Ahmed Al-Haj, Associated Press

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016 | 1:02 a.m.

ABS, Yemen — The taxi driver happened by just after a volley of airstrikes hit a highway in western Yemen. The driver, Mohammed al-Khal, stopped, took a wounded ice cream vendor into his car and rushed him to the nearest hospital.

But the warplanes were still hunting. Moments after al-Khal pulled up at the hospital in the town of Abs, hell was unleashed.

A missile struck just outside the hospital entrance, "like a ball of fire," one witness said. Al-Khal, a father of eight, was incinerated in his car. The blast ripped through patients and family waiting in an outdoor reception area. Nineteen people were killed, along with two civilians killed on the highway.

The attack in August typified what has been a pattern in the nearly 2-year-old air campaign by Saudi Arabia and its allies against Yemen's Shiite rebels, known as Houthis. Rights groups and U. N. officials say the U. S.-backed coalition has often either deliberately or recklessly depended on faulty intelligence, failed to distinguish between civilian and military targets and disregarded the likelihood of civilian casualties.

Experts say some of the strikes amount to war crimes.

"The Saudis have been committing war crimes in Yemen," said Gabor Rona, a professor teaching the laws of war at Columbia University. He pointed to "indiscriminate targeting, that is, attacks in which the attacker makes no effort to distinguish between combatants and civilians. " And he warned that American personnel helping the coalition "may also be guilty of war crimes. "

Nearly 4,000 civilians have been killed since early 2015 and an estimated 60 percent of them died in airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition, the U. N. says. Around one in three strikes hit civilian targets, according to the Yemen Data Project, an independent group of researchers that has put together a database of more than 8,000 strikes. The strikes in Abs were notable: The original target was a small checkpoint manned by two rebel fighters on a highway far from any frontline. Three missiles were fired on the highway and one at the hospital. Of 21 people killed, none was a combatant. Moreover, the hospital itself was on the coalition's own computerized list of sites that should not be targeted.

Each strike that day was carried out with a Paveway guided missile system, built by an American company and sold to Saudi Arabia — a sign of how the United States has become mired in Yemen's war. Washington and its allies have sold billions of dollars in weapons to Saudi Arabia for the campaign, and the U. S. military has been providing it with intelligence, satellite imagery and logistical help.

Washington underlines that it does not make decisions on strikes, and it calls on the coalition to investigate any claims of violations. "U. S. security cooperation with Saudi Arabia is not a blank check," National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in October.

The coalition denies neglect, saying it does its utmost to avoid civilian casualties and noting the rebels often operate among civilians.

"This is the fog of war," the coalition's spokesman, Saudi Gen. Ahmed al-Asiri, told The Associated Press when asked if there is a pattern of civilian deaths.

"In war, one plus one doesn't equal two. In war, there are many changes taking place around the clock. In war, there are decisions that should be taken fast," he said from the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

But critics say the American and international backing and lack of independent investigation have given Saudi Arabia and its allies a free rein.

"We believe that the coalition understood that ... it has a green light to commit more massacres in Yemen," said Abdel-Rashed al-Faqeh, the head of Muwatana, one of Yemen's most prominent rights groups.

___

Saudi Arabia launched the coalition campaign in a bid to restore the internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, after the Houthis overran the capital Sanaa and the north of the country. The Houthis are allied with troops loyal to Hadi's predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was ousted after a 2011 pro-democracy uprising.

Saudi Arabia, which calls the rebels a proxy of its regional rival, Iran, has backed an array of military units and fighters against the Houthis.

The war has been devastating for the country of 24 million. Around 3 million have been driven from their homes, fleeing to other parts of Yemen. The bombardment, fighting and a coalition blockade have fueled widespread hunger.

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the U. N. human rights office have also reported possible war crimes by the Houthi rebels, citing their shelling of civilian areas and basing their fighters in schools and other civilian locations.

But the scope of the air campaign has brought widespread destruction. Warplanes have hit medical centers, hospitals, schools, factories, infrastructure and roads, as well as markets, weddings and residential compounds. The Yemen Data Project, for example, documented nearly 60 strikes on medical facilities, most of them in the Houthi heartland in the north, though it says it does not track casualty figures because of how difficult it is to verify events on the ground. The coalition, which says it investigates claims of civilian casualties, has made nine investigations public. In most cases it said the strikes were against a justified military target.

If any attack typified the rush to hit without regard for civilian casualties, it was the Oct. 8 attack on a funeral in Sanaa.

Working on a tip that top Houthi leadership — and perhaps Saleh himself — would be present, warplanes fired two missiles at the funeral hall. More than 140 people were killed, more than 600 wounded, in one of the deadliest strikes of the campaign.

The funeral, which was for the father of a Houthi government minister was announced on social media beforehand, gathering numerous prominent figures from the rebel movement and Saleh's circles. Several top military and security figures were killed, but the majority of dead were civilians.

After an international outcry, the coalition held an investigation and admitted a mistake, one of only two times it has done so.

But the coalition blamed its Yemeni allies, saying an air operation center in Yemen received information that the hall was filled with Houthi leaders and was a legitimate military target. The center ordered the strike without the coalition headquarters' knowledge, the spokesman of the coalition's investigation team, Mansour al-Mansour, told the AP.

But several Yemeni political and military officials told the AP that the centers do not have the power to order coalition warplanes to strike.

"This is very tempting for a country like Saudi Arabia as they really want to break the resistance," said Michael Knights, a Boston-based Yemen analyst with the Washington Institute. "If they had the chance to do it with one bomb, I am sure they would do it. "

But the strike raised multiple concerns in terms of its legality, experts said.

"If you have to kill 140 to get one militiaman, then that is pretty clearly disproportionate and that would be a war crime," said Rona, who has worked as a legal expert with the international Red Cross and Human Rights First.

The U. N. Panel of Experts, tasked with reporting on the Yemen conflict, denounced the use of a "double-tap" attack against the funeral, with a second strike timed moments after the first.

The second missile "almost certainly resulted in more casualties to the already wounded and the first responders," it said, a practice prohibited under international humanitarian law.

___

As the campaign began in early 2015, the coalition focused on Houthi military targets largely based on information from Hadi's government.

But as time went on, targeting relied more on tips coming from hundreds of agents and informants paid by the coalition. A senior Yemeni army official close to Hadi's Riyadh-based government said the informants often provide inaccurate information, rely on rumors or call in strikes to get revenge on personal enemies.

He and another top official said decisions on strikes are taken hastily without enough verification or assessment of likely civilian casualties.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the workings of the coalition.

In one instance, a bus carrying men, women and children was struck north of the city of Aden on June 6, 2015, killing 15 people, after a tip that it was carrying Houthi fighters.

A similar incident came 11 days later, again from a tip, that a bus was carrying Houthis. Strikes killed all 16 passengers on a bus in an area called Tor al-Baha northwest of Aden. It turned out the passengers were families heading out for the Muslim Eid holiday.

In both cases, the official said the Yemenis informed the coalition that the dead were all civilians. "They said we will look into it. But of course nothing happened. "

___

Since the air campaign began, the U. S. has authorized some $7.8 billion in military sales to Saudi Arabia. In 2015 alone, Saudi Arabia purchased $25 billion in arms from the U. S., Britain, France and other countries, according to Control Arms, a New York-based group that tracks the arms trade.

The U. S. also been providing intelligence on targets through American military advisers posted at the Joint Combined Planning Cell, or JCPS, in Riyadh.

But the U. S. military never provided "direct or implicit approval of target selection or prosecution," Central Command said in a statement.

U. S. officials say the JCPS sought to limit civilian casualties. It provided coordinates for some 2,300 sites on a "no-target" list, including hospitals, schools and mosques, according to a U. N. official. Such sites would appear on the coalition's computer screens as red marks.

It also advised the coalition to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict and use "precise application of weapons" to avoid civilians, said Lt. Ian M. McConnaughey, U. S. Navy spokesman in Bahrain.

After strikes with reported heavy civilian casualties, Washington has called for the coalition to investigate and repeated its stance that a political solution to Yemen's war must be found.

But the U. S. and its allies have also protected Saudi Arabia from criticism.

In September, a number of EU countries tried to pass a resolution for the U. N. Human Rights Commission to order an international probe into civilian deaths, but the provision failed to get U. S., British and French support.

In June, the U. N. blacklisted the coalition because of child deaths in Yemen, but that move was revoked after Saudi Arabia's allies threatened to cut funding for U. N. programs.

It was only that Washington appeared to try to distance itself. The U. S. pulled out dozens of personnel from the joint planning cell in June. Pentagon spokesman Christopher Sherwood said fewer than five personnel were needed. After the funeral strike, the U. S. said it would review its assistance further.

Nabeel Khoury, a former U. S. diplomat in Yemen and now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, attributed the reduction to the criticism over civilian deaths.

"Yes, the official line was we are providing intelligence, but this is targeting. The only intelligence Saudis want is for targeting," he told the AP. "In the end, the decision to fire is Saudi, but because of the American support to this war, it is hard to deny U. S. responsibility. "

Yemen War Raises Yemen war raises questions Questions of War Crimes of war crimes against Against Civilians civilians abcnews.go.com washingtontimes.com

2016-11-16 05:02 By Maggie lasvegassun.com

19 /100 0.0 Megyn Kelly says it’s important to know what Trump did (2.06/9) Megyn Kelly said Tuesday she didn’t want to reveal much about President-elect Donald Trump’s treatment of her the past year so as to not be accused of trying to tip...

Megyn Kelly reveals she Bill O'Reilly Says Megyn shoplifted and threw house Kelly Shouldn't "Undermine" parties Fox News dailymail.co.uk feedproxy.google.com

2016-11-16 02:35 system article.wn.com

20 /100 0.0 Obama, on last trip to Europe, warns against nationalism, populism (2.04/9) WASHINGTON/ NEW YORK : US President Barack Obama , stung by the surprise victory of Donald Trump in last week’s US election , warned on Tuesday against a rise in nationalism and said a backlash against globalisation had stoked populist Obama will address a divided Europe cnn.com

Visiting Europe, Obama warns against rise of ‘crude sort of nationalism’ post-gazette.com

2016-11-16 02:27 system article.wn.com

21 /100 0.0 Thailand finds 33 new cases of Zika, says health ministry (1.15/9) BANGKOK, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Thai health officials on Wednesday said 33 new Zika virus cases have been detected in the country as officials step up screening for groups at high risk from the disease such as pregnant women. "We confirmed 33 new cases last week and have detected the virus in two further provinces," Ministry of Public Health spokesman Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai told Reuters. Suwannachai said health campaigns warning travellers about Zika have been increased as many Thais flock to the capital Bangkok to take part in national mourning activities for King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died on Oct. 13. "This is a period of movement with people coming to the capital from the provinces to take part in various activities," he said. "We have to remind them that Zika is a silent disease and some people won't have symptoms. " Thailand became the first country in Southeast Asia in September to confirm Zika-linked microcephaly, a condition that results in babies being born with small heads, and has one of the highest number of Zika cases in the region. Other parts of Southeast Asia have reported dozens of cases of Zika, including city state Singapore where 450 cases have been reported in 2016. Thailand has reported more than 680 cases of Zika since January but its Department of Disease Control has said the virus is manageable. In neighbouring Myanmar, a pregnant foreign woman was diagnosed with the mosquito-borne virus last month - the first case confirmed in the country. Zika infections in pregnant women have been shown to cause microcephaly - a severe birth defect in which the head and brain are undersized - as well as other brain abnormalities. The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light in Brazil, which has confirmed more than 1,900 cases of microcephaly. (Reporting by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by) 33 new cases of Zika in Thailand, says health ministry article.wn.com

2016-11-16 00:50 Reuters www.dailymail.co.uk

22 /100 0.0 VP-Elect Pence Removes Lobbyists From Transition Team: Aide (1.09/9) Vice President-elect Mike Pence, the newly minted head of the White House transition, decided that all lobbyists should be removed from his team, effectively dismantling the structure that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had built, two people familiar with the transition process told ABC News.

The move comes after questions posed to Trump on "60 Minutes" asking about the influx of lobbyists on his transition team, especially after Trump railed against lobbyists and "Washington insiders" during his campaign.

The move against all lobbyists comes after the ouster of Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers and lobbyist Matthew Freedman from the team's group of national security advisors earlier in the day on Tuesday.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Amid reports of turmoil, Trump and Pence reshuffle transition team rssfeeds.freep.com

2016-11-16 01:15 By abcnews.go.com

23 /100 23 /100 0.0 Donald Trump Says Electoral College 'Genius' After Calling It 'Disaster' (1.09/9) What a difference four years makes.

A newly elected Donald Trump has changed his tune on the Electoral College , calling it "genius" after his win in the presidential election -- a far cry from when he blasted it four years ago.

Trump, despite trailing by nearly 1 million ballots in the popular vote, with 94 percent of the count in, won an Electoral College victory 290-232, with Michigan outstanding.

A large part of that victory was claiming Rust Belt states that were considered largely safe for Democrats, such as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- a move that stunned observers. Trump won by narrow margins in both states.

The Electoral College is actually genius in that it brings all states, including the smaller ones, into play. Campaigning is much different!

But just four years ago, when President Obama won reelection, Trump called for a march on Washington and decried the system of electors.

The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy.

Trump even bragged Tuesday that he would have run up the score against Clinton had the Electoral College not been in play.

If the election were based on total popular vote I would have campaigned in N. Y. Florida and California and won even bigger and more easily

Trump lost New York 59-37 percent by a margin of nearly 1.5 million votes, according to ABC News projections. He lost California by an even bigger margin -- 62-33 with a margin of more than 3 million votes with 70 percent of the expected vote in.

Trump also won a narrow victory in Florida -- 49-48 percent with a margin of 120,000 votes. He made several campaign stops in Florida.

This is the second time in five presidential elections that the winner was projected to lose the popular vote. The other was in 2000 when George W. Bush won. Calls grow to abolish the Electoral College msnbc.com

2016-11-16 00:16 By abcnews.go.com

24 /100 0.0 Indian foreign minister preparing for kidney transplant

(1.05/9) India's foreign minister says she is undergoing medical tests for a transplant after suffering kidney failure.

In a message posted Wednesday on Twitter, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said she is undergoing dialysis at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.

The 64-year-old minister was admitted to the hospital last week. She said in her post: "Presently, I am on dialysis. I am undergoing tests for a kidney transplant. Lord Krishna will bless. "

Indian foreign minister in India's foreign minister hospital with kidney failure suffers kidney failure dailymail.co.uk dailymail.co.uk

2016-11-16 05:18 The Associated www.charlotteobserver.com

25 /100 0.0 Russell, Randle push surging Lakers past Nets, 125- 118 (1.05/9) D'Angelo Russell scored 32 points and Julius Randle added 17 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double in the surprising Los Angeles Lakers' 125-118 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night.

Timofey Mozgov had 20 points and six rebounds for the Lakers, who maintained a steady lead down the stretch of their fourth win in five games at Staples Center this season.

Russell hit seven 3-pointers and had eight rebounds. Los Angeles' balanced play under new coach Luke Walton has put the Lakers (7-5) two games above.500 for just the second time since April 2013.

Brook Lopez had 30 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 29 points as Brooklyn rebounded solidly from a 32-point thrashing delivered by the Clippers in the same building one night earlier while Lopez sat out to rest.

Lopez also became the Nets' franchise leader in blocked shots, passing George Johnson's 863 blocks with three against the Lakers.

But Russell had the highest- scoring individual performance by any player this season for the Lakers. He also did it against Brooklyn after dropping a career- high 39 on the Nets last year, including eight 3-pointers that prompted his now-famous "Ice in My Veins" celebration of big shots.

Randle added another balanced floor game in his first triple-double since March 25, and the Lakers got major contributions down low from Mozgov — who had his highest-scoring game for his new team — and Tarik Black, who had 12 points and nine rebounds in just 13 minutes.

The Lakers opened a four-game homestand with a quick start against the Nets led by Russell, who had 19 points by halftime. Lopez kept it close with 17 points of his own, and he kept it close again in the third quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers during a Brooklyn barrage from outside.

BENCH BATTLE

The NBA's two most productive benches had big games. Led by Jordan Clarkson's 13 points, the Lakers' reserves outscored the Nets' bench 43-40. Yogi Ferrell led the Brooklyn bench with 11 points.

STEEP SCHEDULE

The Lakers just returned from a road trip that showcased their young roster's potential and limitations. They won at Sacramento and New Orleans to move two games above.500 for the first time since the end of the 2012-13 season, but were then routed by Minnesota on Sunday after their third long-distance flight in four nights.

The Lakers will have to get used to learning on the court: Starting Friday, they will play 18 games in 30 days with five back-to-backs and no consecutive days off.

TIP-INS

Nets: Former Lakers G Jeremy Lin missed his sixth straight game with a hamstring injury. ... Former Nets forward Andrei Kirilenko watched the game from courtside.

Lakers: LA has beaten Brooklyn three straight times. ... The Lakers scored 120 points for the fourth time this season after managing the feat just three times in the previous two seasons combined. UP NEXT

Nets: The road trip ends Friday at Oklahoma City.

Lakers: After their final back-to-back days off for an entire month, they host San Antonio on Friday.

Lakers rely on Randle, Lakers fend off the Nets, Russell to hold off Nets 125-118 latimes.com latimes.com

2016-11-16 02:14 By GREG www.charlotteobserver.com

26 /100 (1.05/9) 7.7 Winning numbers drawn in 'Fantasy 5' game The winning numbers in Tuesday evening's drawing of the Florida Lottery's "Fantasy 5" game were:

06-20-24-28-30

(six, twenty, twenty-four, twenty-eight, thirty)

Winning numbers drawn in 'Lucky Money' game miamiherald.com

Winning numbers for Nov. 15, 2016 chron.com

2016-11-16 00:48 The Associated www.miamiherald.com

27 /100 27 /100 0.0 Tuesday’s HS Boys Basketball Roundup: Jairus Hamilton, No. 1 Cannon, get on track (1.04/9) ↑ Ardrey Kell free throw shooting: Knights were 21-of-34 from the line in a 55-51 win over Marvin Ridge. Mavericks were 4-for-12.

↑ Devon Dotson, Providence Day: Career-high 40 points plus five rebounds in a 80-76 loss to High Point Wesleyan, a team ranked among the nation’s top 20 in several polls. Dotson, who played through cramps, scored 29 points in the second half. In three games this season, the 6-1 junior point guard is averaging 30 points per game.

↑ Jaylen Hoard, High Point Wesleyan: 6-8 wing from France is ranked as high as No. 8 nationally in the class of 2018. He had 22 points, 12 rebounds against Providence Day and showed off a multi-dimensional game. He’s as good as advertised.

COMMUNITY SCHOOL OF DAVIDSON 93, BRADFORD PREP 12: Senior Ryan Gomilla had 13 points, 10 steals, six assists and two rebounds in an easy win.

EAST MECK 66, BERRY 43: Jordan Richard had 19 points, Seth Bradbury 17 and Charvis Jones 13 in an easy win for East (1-0). The Eagles busted the game open with a 21-12 spurt in the second quarter.

GREENSBORO DAY 75, CHARLOTTE COUNTRY DAY 29: The nationally ranked Bengals (3-0) led 40-10 at halftime and won easily. Junior John Newman had 17 to lead Greensboro Day and Will Dillard added 11. Sophomore Alex Tabor led the Bucs (0-1) with five.

ROCKY RIVER 66, SOUTH MECK 56: Freshman Jaden Springer had a team-high 15 in his debut to lead the Ravens to a win over the Sabres. Bryant Thomas had 24 for South, which was outscored 38-28 in the second half.

VANCE 73, WEST MECK 46: Vance (1-0) led 21-11 after the first quarter and 32-19 at halftime and then busted it open with a 24-11 run in the third quarter. Cam Hamilton had 20 points for the Cougars.

NO. 1 CANNON 80, FORSYTH COUNTRY DAY 68: Jairus Hamilton had 23 points and Qon Murphy 16 as the Sweet 16’s top ranked won its first game after losing to nationally ranked Oak Hill Saturday. Cannon (1-1) trailed 20-19 after the first quarter, but outscored Forsyth (0-3) 48-24 over the next two. Phillip “Worm” McKenzie had 11 and Cory Deveaux 10 for the Cougars. Junior point guard Tripp Greene had 21 for Forsyth.

CONCORD FIRST ASSEMBLY 68, YORK (SC) PREP 60: Stephen Edoka had 17 points and Julius Felder 14 to lead First Assembly (3-0) to a close win in a battle of state powers. DJ Burns and Tracus Chisholm each had 20 for York Prep. GASTON DAY 68, CHRIST THE KING 31: Gaston Day outscored Christ The King 20-2 in the second quarter and the blew game open. John Crump had 11 for the Spartans. Brian Stanley led Christ The King with 16.

METROLINA CHRISTAN 83, ASHEVILLE SCHOOL 53: Junior point guard Malcolm Wade had 19 points and Nick Dietrich and Tate Johnson added 14 for Metrolina (2-0). Rashad Morrison had 17 for Asheville School (1-1). A 30-13 fourth quarter busted the game open.

MJ Armstrong, Gaston Day: 19 points, five rebounds, four assists in 68-31 win over Christ The King. Teammate Nate Hinton had 14 points, five rebounds, five assists.

Jerod Carrier, Marvin Ridge: career-high 20 points and 10 rebounds in 55-51 win over Marvin Ridge.

Cam Hamilton, Vance: 20 points, six rebounds, four steals, three assists in a 73-46 win over West Meck.

Jairus Hamilton, Cannon: 23 points, 10 rebounds in 80-68 win over Forsyth Country Day.

Jalen Knight, KC Hankton, United Faith: Knight had 33 points, seven rebounds, four steals in a 92-73 win over Walnut Grove Christian. Hankton had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Walnut Grove’s Chris White had 29 points.

Jaylen Thompson, Eric Evans, Grace Academy: In an 86-41 win over Carolina Christian, Thompson had 17 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. Evans had 28 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Trey Wertz, Providence Day: 19 points, four rebounds, four steals, two assists, one block in an 80-76 loss to nationally ranked High Point Wesleyan.

Tuesday’s college basketball roundup: St. Joe’s stages late rally for a win pressherald.com

2016-11-16 01:14 By Langston www.charlotteobserver.com

28 /100 0.0 Alabama Child Abuse Horror: Adoptive Parents Reportedly Kept 55 Pound Teen Locked In Basement For Years [Video] (1.03/9) Alabama teen weighing 55 pounds hospitalized after 2 years in basement https://t.co/8d79TqnC42 #politics #Fox

— Tweetpoliticsfeed (@Tweetpolitifeed) November 16, 2016 Due to the child abuse the Alabama teen allegedly suffered at the hands of his adoptive parents, he was admitted to the hospital in extremely critical condition and is reportedly currently fighting for his life. Investigators estimate that the 14-year-old, who has not been publicly named, endured his child abuse horror for years. It is believed that for at least the last two years, he spent the majority of his life locked in his family’s Helena, Alabama basement.

The teen’s adoptive parents have been identified as Richard and Cynthia Kelly, and they are currently being held in the Shelby County Jail on $1 million bond, each. They have reportedly been charged with aggravated child abuse, a Class B felony, in connection with the horror endured by the 14-year-old.

According to medical professionals, the adoptive parents of the Alabama teen stand accused of denying the child food, water and medical care. They are believed to have kept the frail boy locked in the basement, completely isolated from all contact, “for extended periods of time” over the last two years. While law enforcement has not independently confirmed that the gravely ill teen weighed only 55 pounds, that is the number that is being widely reported in the media, and likely came from medical professionals desperately trying to undo the years of child abuse the Alabama teen allegedly endured.

To put it in perspective, the 14-year-old reportedly weighs less than half of what a child his age should be expected to weigh.

“The victim continues to get medical care and we at the Helena Police Department wish him a speedy recovery and our prayers are with him.”

@CTVVancouver more horrors from red neckville

— Michael Hollier (@MichaelHollier8) November 16, 2016

@NYDailyNews my GODDDD!!! Heavenly Father, PLEASE be with him! Bring his sickly body back to health!

— Ms. K (@mrsnasirjones) November 16, 2016

@WKRG I word "bullet"

— Theresa Brown (@MtheresaB1967) November 15, 2016

@RobinsonCarol @aldotcom where does this vermin come from? ????

— Regenia Lauderdale (@regldale) November 15, 2016 After the teen was brought to the hospital for care and medical personnel reported the shocking case of child abuse to county authorities, investigators worked diligently to secure an arrest warrant for the 14-year-old boy’s adoptive parents. Reportedly, his parents were the ones to seek out medical treatment for the boy. The pair, Richard and Cynthia Kelly, were taken into police custody on Monday night and booked into the Helena City Jail; they have since been transferred to the Shelby County Jail, where they are currently being held on bond.

Reportedly, in addition to the 14-year-old and his now-incarcerated adoptive parents, two other adults live in the Alabama home where the horrific child abuse allegedly took place. Those adults, who have not been publicly identified, are described as a 19-year-old and a 21-year-old. The 19-year-old is reported to be an adopted brother of the teen child abuse victim. Police Chief Folmar says that neither are expected to be charged in connection to the horrific child abuse suffered by the Alabama teen, and both are said to have jobs and be in good health.

“The father was just watching him.”

That neighbor has declined to be identified.

14-year-old boy fighting for his life after spending 2 years locked in basement of Alabama home. https://t.co/BuiO0uFnHv

— CTV Vancouver (@CTVVancouver) November 16, 2016

Reportedly, all of the children in the Alabama home had been home schooled, and therefore weren’t on the radar of any unrelated adults or mandatory child abuse reporters.

The investigation into the horrific case of Alabama child abuse is in its early stages and ongoing, and as such, investigators are declining to release more information on the case at this time. However, Jill Lee, the Shelby County DA, claims that the investigation into the terrible child abuse allegedly endured by the 14-year-old has been very taxing and heartbreaking for all involved.

“I am bound to remind everyone that they remain innocent until proven guilty. But this office will prosecute vigorously and to fullest extent the law will allow.”

Prior to the teen’s Sunday hospitalization, the Alabama Department of Human Resources reports that they had no prior contact with the child, nor had they received any prior reports of potential abuse or neglect in this horrific Alabama child abuse case.

[Featured Image by Shelby County Jail]

'Gravely ill' Alabama teen hospitalized after being kept in basement for 2 years by adoptive parents — RT America rt.com 2016-11-16 04:09 Patricia Ramirez www.inquisitr.com

29 /100 0.0 Varlamov stops 32 shots as Avalanche beat Kings 4-1

(1.03/9) Semyon Varlamov had 32 saves, Patrick Wiercioch and Rene Bourque scored 22 seconds apart and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 on Tuesday night.

Gabriel Landeskog and Blake Comeau also scored for Colorado, and Wiercioch added an assist.

Dustin Brown scored for Los Angeles and Peter Budaj stopped 26 shots. It was the Kings' fourth straight loss after opening their five-game trip with a win in Toronto.

The Avalanche had not scored a regulation goal for more than five periods before getting two quick ones at the start of the second period.

Wiercioch broke through when he stuffed the puck between Budaj's skate and the post at 1:10 for his second goal of the season.

Bourque then put his stick on Mikko Rantanen's shot from the blue line and redirected it past Budaj at 1:32. It was his fifth of the season and third in three games.

The Kings had several chances to get back into it before Brown scored. With Tyson Barrie off for hooking, Nic Dowd backhanded the puck to the front of the net and Brown knocked it in to make it 2-1 with 31 seconds left in the period. It was his third of the season and just the second power- play goal in the last 33 chances for the Kings.

The Avalanche made it a two-goal game at 11:32 of the third when Comeau beat Budaj with a shot from between the circles. The Kings challenged play, claiming Jarome Iginla interfered with Budaj, but the goal was upheld upon review.

Landeskog scored an empty-net goal at 18:23 to make it 4-1.

NOTES: Kings C Anze Kopitar missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury but is expected to skate Wednesday when the team returns to L. A. ... Avalanche C Matt Duchene will make the three-game road trip with the hope of playing as early as Thursday. He was on the ice for Tuesday's morning skate and could be a full participant at Wednesday's practice. He has also missed two straight games.

UP NEXT:

Kings: Host Edmonton on Thursday to start a stretch of four of the next five at Staples Center. Avalanche: Begin their three-game road trip in Dallas on Thursday night.

Hellebuyck stops 27 shots to help Jets beat Blackhawks 4-0 dailymail.co.uk

2016-11-16 00:59 The Associated www.charlotteobserver.com

30 /100 0.0 Boris Johnson's Brexit vision 'intellectually impossible' – EU minister (1.02/9) Boris Johnson , the foreign secretary, is promising the British people a Brexit deal that is “intellectually impossible” and “politically unavailable”, according to the Dutch finance minister and Eurogroup president.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem delivered a scathing attack on Johnson after the foreign secretary claimed the UK would probably be leaving the customs union while also seeking free trade with the EU and extra immigration controls.

The Dutch politician told the BBC’s Newsnight: “I think he’s offering to the British people options that are really not available. For example, to say we could be inside the internal market but be outside the customs union, this is impossible, it just doesn’t exist. The opposite does exist. We have a customs union with Turkey but Turkey is not part of the internal market.

“He’s saying things that are intellectually impossible, politically unavailable, so I think he’s not offering the British people a fair view of what is available and what can be achieved in these negotiations.”

Describing Brexit as a lose-lose situation, Dijsselbloem added: “It would be in my country’s interests and in European and British interests if the Brits would stay in the EU but I don’t think it’s going to happen. The next best option is to have as good an agreement as possible but the UK will be outside the single market and there will be some hindrances.”

Leaving the customs union would allow the UK to strike trade deals independently with non-EU countries but Whitehall has told cabinet ministers that it could seriously harm the economy by causing extra border checks and bureaucracy. Bill Morneau, the Canadian finance minister, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Canada would not be negotiating a trade deal with the UK until it is out of EU.

Asked whether the pending Canada-EU free trade deal would automatically result in a Canada- Britain free trade deal on the same terms after Brexit, he said: “We’re going to respect the agreement that the UK has with Europe ... and stand ready to work together after that’s concluded.”

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, also appeared to be standing firm on defending the fundamental principle of free movement within the EU on Tuesday but conceded there could be room for further discussion around whether welfare benefits should be immediately available for life if an EU citizen moves to another member state .

Boris Johnson charity ‘impossible’ Brexit vision headlinenewstoday.net

2016-11-16 05:34 Rowena Mason www.theguardian.com

31 /100 0.0 A Tribe Called Quest and the Shadow of Trump

(1.02/9) A Tribe Called Quest’s “The Donald,” the final track on their first album in 18 years, is not about Donald Trump. Maybe. With playful DJ scratches, jazzy keys, and patois all radiating the warmth of friendship, the song is the group’s final goodbye to its member Phife Dawg, who died at age 45 from complications of diabetes earlier this year and who had the nickname “Don Juice.” Still, you don’t name a song “The Donald” and release it three days after the presidential election without knowing the implications. You don’t sample a newscaster saying “Donald” over and over again without wanting to conjure up the billionaire who in his campaign’s final days made hip-hop yet another non-white scapegoat for America’s problems. You don’t do create a song like this without wanting to draw a comparison between Don Juice and The Donald, or really, in this case, a contrast.

Great albums eventually transcend the conditions that surrounded their release, and the excellent We’ve Got It From Here … Thank U 4 Your Service , recorded over the past year, may indeed succeed at that. But first, it’s a document of its time. The hack of John Podesta’s emails revealed that the band’s brilliant frontman Q-Tip reached out to help the Clinton campaign; here, he makes makes multiple references to the glory of female leadership, a particularly poignant gesture now. There are plenty of other chillingly relevant lyrics inspired by the news in 2015 and 2016. And grief for the recently passed Phife (as well as his his own voice) permeates the ever- morphing funky medley even in its most joyful moments. But the album’s deepest resonance, its great connection and clash with the moment, may be in the music itself: its celebration of intellect and teamwork, its collage of multiracial influence, its liveliness in the face of sorrow.

Leonard Cohen’s Dark Wisdom

These virtues announce themselves in neon within moments of the album’s start, with “The Space Program” staging a verbal passaround game as balletic and energizing as an Avengers fight scene. Q-Tip and Phife Dawg work together for the chorus about working together, and then Jarobi White joins in the verses, his deep voice like a sharpie complementing Tip’s fine colored pencil. A layer of crisp rhythm adds in as the syllable count rises, but the display of complexity is more about emotion than technical impressiveness. “Mass un-blackening, it’s happening, you feel it y’all?” Jarobi asks. The answer has to be “yes” in the week when an election was decided by white turnout and white solidarity, but the song makes you feel the irreversibility of that outcome a little less than you would otherwise.

The album just gets more explicitly relevant from there. “We the People” lumbers in with sirens and synths before Tip mutters a chorus telling black people, Mexicans, Muslims, and gays to leave the country. The song’s title is either a statement of pessimism about our democracy or a call for unity, cemented by Tip’s observation that “when we get hungry we eat the same fucking food, the ramen noodle.” Next comes “Whateva Will Be,” whose slow-rolling funk features Phife lamenting black men being marked as lesser at birth—a sentiment especially heavy when heard from beyond the grave. It’s not the only time that words Phife recorded in life sting more now than they would have then: “CNN and all this shit why y'all cool with the fuckery?” he says on “Conrad Tokyo.” “Trump and SNL hilarity / Troublesome times kid, no times for comedy.”

Never is this protest and mourning a drag to listen to. Rather, the music embodies Tip’s coinage of “vivrant”—vibrant + vivacious—with a meld of live playing, programming, and samples that maintain a groove as the sonic palette shifts. Agitated electro sounds power the Andre 3000 showcase “Kids,” spacey reggae accompanies Tip imagining Phife’s ghost for “Black Spasmodic,” and Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets” becomes earthquaking psychedelia for “Solid Wall of Sound.” The music’s ever-searching, dot-connecting mentality fits the lyrical outlook. Toward the end of the album, Tip offers his grand humane diagnosis of the world by using the song title “Ego” to refer to the quality that motivates him in the face of disrespect but also motivates tyranny. Smart.

My favorite track of the moment is one of the more subdued ones, “Melatonin,” which could exist out of time but is all the more powerful because it doesn’t. As the band moves from stop-start- stop-start passages to smooth reveries and back, Tip raps about anxiety keeping him awake. “The sun is up, but I feel down again,” he says, and for the song’s length the only remedies are sex and sleeping pills. He’s not exactly offering solutions here; he’s offering forgiveness for feeling the need to momentarily recharge. The miracle of the album is that it’ll help listeners do just that, even as it does quite the opposite of distract from the world. Poroshenko appeals to Trump for support in phone call digitaljournal.com

2016-11-16 05:30 Spencer Kornhaber www.theatlantic.com

32 /100 0.0 GPS-Tracked Sex Offender to Stand Trial in Serial Killings (1.02/9) Opening statements are expected Wednesday in the trial of a sex offender accused of raping and killing four women during a murderous spree in Orange County while wearing a GPS tracking device.

Steven Dean Gordon, 47, of Anaheim is due in an Orange County courtroom on four counts of murder and four counts of rape.

Gordon is representing himself at trial. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Gordon and registered sex offender Franc Cano, 30, were both wearing GPS devices for prior offenses when they raped and killed four women in 2013 and 2014, authorities said.

One of the women's bodies was found at a recycling plant. Investigators linked her death to the disappearance of three other women also allegedly picked up by the pair.

During grand jury proceedings, authorities said that Gordon confessed in graphic detail to picking up the women in his car with Cano, raping them behind an Anaheim paint and body shop where the men camped and killing them.

But Gordon's confession won't be allowed during the trial, said Larry Yellin, senior deputy district attorney for Orange County. Yellin said the judge excluded it because Gordon told police he didn't want to talk before launching into the detailed account of the murders.

Cano, who is expected to be tried separately, is due in court later this week to set a trial date, Yellin said.

Yellin declined to comment on the case ahead of opening statements.

During the investigation, authorities identified the victim at the recycling plant as Jarrae Nykkole Estepp from the tattoo on the back of her neck. They searched a database of sex offenders wearing tracking devices and found Cano had been in the locations of all four women when they vanished.

They focused on Gordon after a search of Cano's cellphone showed the men texted constantly. The night Estepp died, a message from Gordon's phone to Cano's read, "this is the best one yet. " DNA samples from Estepp's body matched Cano's and Gordon's genetic material, authorities said.

Authorities believe Cano and Gordon have known each other since at least 2010, when Cano cut off his GPS device and fled to Alabama , where the men were arrested. In 2012, they cut off the devices again and took a bus to Las Vegas using fake names. They were arrested two weeks later.

Both men are registered sex offenders and were convicted in separate cases of lewd and lascivious acts on a child.

GPS-tracked sex offender to stand trial in serial killings wtop.com

2016-11-16 05:27 By abcnews.go.com

33 /100 0.0 St. Petersburg's ex-deputy governor faces corruption charges (1.02/9) St. Petersburg's ex-deputy governor faces corruption charges Associated Press - 16 November 2016 03:33-05:00 News Topics: General news, Sports, Embezzlement, 2018 FIFA World Cup, FIFA World Cup, Political corruption, Crime, Events, Political issues, Government and politics, Men's soccer, Men's sports, Soccer, International soccer People, Places and Companies: Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Putin, Saint Petersburg, Russia Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

St. Petersburg's Ex-Deputy Governor Faces Corruption Charges abcnews.go.com

2016-11-16 04:58 system article.wn.com

34 /100 0.0 Obama's alumni-to-be contemplate life after the White House (1.02/9) WASHINGTON (AP) - Their BlackBerrys are still buzzing, day and night. For the moment, aides to President Barack Obama still have world leaders to worry about, distant wars to help manage and decisions to make that affect the nation. All that will come to a crashing halt on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day. Hoping to ensure that his staffers find decent jobs, Obama and his team have brought in representatives from Facebook, Instagram and other companies to offer insights into the job market. Officials from LinkedIn are helping White House staffers identify ways to market their skills. And Georgetown University, not far from the White House, has designed a custom professional development program dubbed "Future44" - Obama is the 44th president - to teach Obama's political appointees how to position themselves for life after the White House. "You go through a detox period," said Michael Wear, who worked for Obama for four years on faith- based outreach. "It was like my brain, after so much time working incredible hours and having to be so attentive to so many inputs, I would be holding my glasses and asking my wife where my glasses were. " Even before the election, few if any of Obama's aides were expected to stay for the next administration. Many are flat-out exhausted and anticipated that Hillary Clinton, if elected, would want to install her own team. But Donald Trump's upset victory foreclosed any possibility that any of the nearly 500 staffers will stick around. For those who have dedicated years to Obama's mission, often missing out on holidays or family occasions, Trump's win and his promises to undo most of Obama's accomplishments were a demoralizing blow. And the fact that Republicans retained control of both the House and Senate means there will be fewer opportunities for Obama-era aides to move into other government jobs here. At Georgetown, 271 Obama appointees have already gone through the Future44 program, provided at no cost thanks to an anonymous donor. Participants register for either four 2-hour evening sessions or one 8-hour "boot camp. " "We designed this unique curriculum to help these staffers think through how to market themselves or market their competencies," said Kelly Otter, dean of Georgetown's School of Continuing Studies. Many outgoing White House staffers are expected to move to the San Francisco area and New York, places with high-tech jobs and cultural sensibilities that overlap with the culture in Obama's White House. Those staffers would be joining dozens of other former Obama aides who have gone on to work for Google, Amazon, Vice, Snapchat and similar companies that cater largely to millennials. "There are a lot of mission-driven organizations here," said Clark Stevens, who moved to San Francisco to work for AirBnB after working in the White House and the Homeland Security Department. "These are areas of innovation, and they're providing new solutions. That aligns in a lot of ways with the focus of the president. " To help prepare staff for post-West Wing life, the White House has been hosting "digital brown bag" lunches about digital media and technological developments, involving both outside speakers and Obama staffers who worked recently at Google and other companies. Smaller sessions within specific departments have focused on making the transition from government to the private sector. White House spokeswoman Jennifer Friedman said Obama had directed staff to keep working on his priorities full-speed until Inauguration Day, but was mindful that the end is a little more than nine weeks. "The transition out of government is a reality for most appointees, which brings both excitement about prospects for the next chapter or a long-awaited chance to recharge batteries, and a keen awareness about a big, impending change," Friedman said. That change can be jarring for longtime staffers, and even a letdown. Ivan Adler, a headhunter at McCormick Group who specializes in government affairs, said most go on to work in one of two settings: firms, like consulting and lobbying agencies, or organizations like trade associations, think tanks and nonprofits. "I tell everybody: You have to understand there's likely nothing you will do professionally that will have the same amount of excitement you've just gone through in the White House, unless you become a racecar driver or an astronaut," Adler said. For Wear, who left Obama's orbit in 2013 after the re-election, life after the White House involved starting his own consulting firm, then penning a forthcoming book called "Reclaiming Hope" about the intersection of faith and politics in the White House. "I've been healthier since I left," Wear said. "And I'm very much enjoying my life now. " ___ Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at. Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Life in the White House bubble? Trump's had practice charlotteobserver.com

2016-11-16 04:58 www.cbs46.com

35 /100 0.0 Colorado recount possible on slavery in state Constitution (1.02/9) It seemed like a no-brainer: Colorado 's voters were asked to eliminate an archaic and offensive reference to slavery as a punishment for a crime in the state Constitution. But a week after the vote, the poorly-written amendment is on the

Colorado recount possible on slavery in state Constitution - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports news9.com

2016-11-16 03:50 system article.wn.com

36 /100 0.0 Merkel to be the new 'leader of the free world'?

(1.02/9) The shock election of Donald Trump as US president has forced greater responsibility for defending Western values and interests onto German Chancellor Angela Merkel's shoulders, analysts say, with some even crowning her the new "leader of the free world".

While the last decade has been defined by Britain, France, Germany and the US showing a largely united front on issues ranging from NATO affairs to defence of basic freedoms, the coming four years may present a more fragmented picture.

During his campaign Trump signalled a protectionist and anti-immigration stance, while Britain is preoccupied with securing its future outside the European Union after June's stunning referendum vote to exit the bloc.

France's President Francois Hollande is grappling with record low ratings ahead of next May's election that could see far-right Marine Le Pen reaching the second round run-off vote.

Merkel, after 11 years at the helm, now looks increasingly like the only bulwark of stability and liberal freedom among Western allies.

"Merkel... has suddenly become the most important leader of the free, democratic and liberal world," said the left-leaning TAZ daily.

The historian and columnist Timothy Garton Ash agreed in an editorial for Britain's Guardian newspaper: "I'm tempted to say that the leader of the free world is now Angela Merkel. "

Rather than visit Britain -- a natural stop for any US leader given the two countries' special relationship, US President Barack Obama is travelling Wednesday to Berlin on his last official trip to Europe, in what almost seems like the passing of a baton to Merkel.

Ahead of the visit, Obama said Merkel "has probably been my closest international partner these last eight years".

- Countering Putin or Erdogan -

Merkel's striking message to Trump after his victory was not lost on observers -- where her peers simply pledged close ties, she tied them to democratic values.

She said that any "close cooperation" must be on the basis of the "values of democracy, freedom, respect for the rule of law and human dignity, regardless of origin, skin colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political belief".

The remarks indicated the German leader is likely to accept -- perhaps grudgingly -- the mantle of "leader of the real, remaining West and remind Trump of values", said Die Welt daily.

"She is more than ever the woman who is countering men like Russian President Vladimir Putin or Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan," said the TAZ.

Merkel, 62, does not have Obama's oratorical flourishes but her voice is increasingly forceful on the world stage.

She put her fluent Russian to good use in mediating in the Ukraine conflict with Putin.

When most European countries were busy shutting their doors to refugees fleeing war in predominantly Muslim countries, Merkel let in nearly 900,000 people last year -- a stance that Trump branded "insane".

- 'Can't do this alone' -

Trump, who pledged to deport millions of undocumented migrants from the US, made anti- immigrant policies a key plank of his campaign.

And few expect him to take take the lead in countering Putin, given his open praise for the Russian strongman.

If Trump makes good on his promises to rip up deals on free trade, climate change and Iran's nuclear programme, as well as reconsider protection for NATO allies that haven't paid their dues, it could spell the end of the United States' post-World War II role as the guarantor of world peace.

Stefani Weiss, an expert on European integration and foreign policies at the Bertelsmann Foundation, said the US had started to retreat as "world police" under Obama and cede more responsibility to Europe.

"This is a trend that will likely prevail and intensify with Trump's presidency," she said.

It remains to be seen how effectively Merkel can push her agenda on the global stage, if Trump, as leader of the world's biggest economy, adopts contrary policies on migration, climate change and sanctions targeting Russia.

Although it has economic weight, Germany's political influence remains limited and it is not even a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

While the US has the military might to lead a multi-nation coalition fighting the Islamic State organisation, Germany has participated on a far smaller scale.

Merkel is probably now the "strongest leader in the liberal world but she can't do this alone", said Daniela Schwarzer, director of the DGAP think-tank.

- Fourth term? -

Observers say Trump's White House win has made it imperative for her to declare her candidacy for a fourth term in elections next year and offer the West a beacon of stability.

"She has shown that she is very committed to keeping the European Union together... that task is even bigger now than it was before the American election and so I would think that she might feel that the job isn't quite done," said Schwarzer.

Trump's election has also given Merkel a popularity bounce.

Before November, only around two in five (44 percent) Germans wanted Merkel to stay on as anger mounted domestically over her liberal refugee policy.

Surveys over the past week show support at 60 percent.

Angela Merkel to be the new 'leader of the free world'? article.wn.com

2016-11-16 03:20 www.digitaljournal.com

37 /100 0.0 Talib returns to practice before Broncos' bye week

(1.02/9) Before bolting on a five-day furlough, Aqib Talib returned to practice for the first time since Oct. 28. The star cornerback has missed Denver's last two games with a sore lower back for which he received a cortisone injection two weeks ago.

"He's feeling good. The injection was a successful thing that they did. And I know how excited he is about the last six weeks," coach Gary Kubiak said Tuesday. "So, it's good to see him get some work in and we'll pick it up again next week. "

The Broncos (7-3) get the next five days off. Their next game is Nov. 27 against Kansas City (7- 2), a game that was flexed into the Sunday night prime time slot.

Talib vowed Sunday that he'd be back on the field for that showdown against the Chiefs.

Talib brings a spark to both the lineup and the locker room that will come in handy down the stretch for the Broncos, who face the Chiefs twice, Oakland and New England in their homestretch.

"It's attitude," Kubiak said. "He's such a positive, playmaking, energy guy. And Aqib is a loud guy, we all know that, his personality. But it's all about football when he's out here. He's very bright. So, yeah, we missed him and it's great to have him back and just to know that he's feeling well. "

GM John Elway said Tuesday he's pleased with the team's record and also expects the Broncos to go on another post-bye roll.

"I think we would take it if you said at Week 10 we'd be 7-3 with what's happened. We haven't played our best football yet, which I think is the encouraging thing," Elway said during an appearance at his steakhouse where he accepted the USGA's offer to serve as honorary chairman of the 2018 U. S. Senior Open in Colorado Springs. Talib's return will allow fellow star cornerback Chris Harris Jr. to go back to playing the slot, his specialty.

The Broncos sorely missed Talib in a 30-20 loss at Oakland but rallied Sunday against the Saints, winning 25-23 behind four takeaways from their "No Fly Zone" secondary, including three by safety Darian Stewart.

Kubiak got to know Stewart during his one season in Baltimore in 2014 and Stewart followed Kubiak to Denver last year.

"When you're a coach and you go to a new organization and you stand up for somebody, you sure as hell hope you're right," Kubiak said. "And I told John (Elway) I thought he'd fit in. He's a good kid, loves to play and boy, just watching him every day has been fun to see. "

---

For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL

Talib returns to practice before Broncos’ bye week wtop.com

2016-11-16 03:13 By ARNIE www.charlotteobserver.com

38 /100 (1.02/9) 3.7 NBA Capsules CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James had 28 points and 14 assists, Kyrie Irving scored 24 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Toronto Raptors 121-117 on Tuesday night to match the best start in franchise history after 10 games. It was another tense matchup between the teams who met in last season's Eastern Conference finals and could get there again. Channing Frye's 3-pointer from the top of the key with 59 seconds left put the Cavs up by one. Cleveland then buckled down on defense, holding the Raptors scoreless until letting Kyle Lowry make a layup with 2.8 seconds left. Kevin Love added 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Cavs, who are 9-1 for the first time since 1976-77. Lowry scored 28 and DeMar DeRozan added 26 for the Raptors. HAWKS 93, HEAT 90 MIAMI (AP) — Dennis Schroder scored 18 points, Paul Millsap and Tim Hardaway Jr. each scored 15 and Atlanta pushed its winning streak to five games by beating reeling Miami. Mike Muscala scored 14 and Kent Bazemore added 12 for the Hawks. Dwight Howard had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks, before leaving with 3:06 left in the third quarter with a bruised left thigh. Hassan Whiteside scored 19 points and grabbed an NBA season-high 25 rebounds for Miami, which has now dropped six straight. The eight Heat losses so far this season have come by an average of 6.9 points — with three of the last four coming by four points or less. Josh Richardson also scored 19 for Miami, which got 14 points from Tyler Johnson, 13 from James Johnson and 11 from Dion Waiters. HORNETS 115, TIMBERWOLVES 108 MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kemba Walker scored 30 points and Charlotte blitzed Minnesota in the third quarter. Frank Kaminsky scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for the Hornets (7-3), who snapped a two-game skid. Nicolas Batum had 16 points and seven assists, and Charlotte outscored Minnesota 36-17 in the third quarter to wipe out a 12-point halftime deficit. Andrew Wiggins scored 29 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and eight rebounds for the Timberwolves, who fell to 1-2 on their four-game homestand. Minnesota turned the ball over 18 times, which led to 20 points for Charlotte. BULLS 113, TRAIL BLAZERS 88 PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Jimmy Butler had 27 points and 12 rebounds, and Chicago opened a six-game road trip with a victory over Portland. Dwyane Wade had 19 points for Chicago, which extended its modest winning streak to three games. Former Blazers center Robin Lopez added 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Blazers, who had won five of six, were cold from the start, falling behind by as many as 26 points. Damian Lillard, who made just two shots from the field in the first half, finished with 19 points. Chicago, coming off a 106-95 victory over Washington on Saturday, was without Rajon Rondo because of a left ankle sprain. Jerian Grant made his first start of the season and had 18 points. LAKERS 125, NETS 118 LOS ANGELES (AP) — D'Angelo Russell scored 32 points and Julius Randle added 17 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double in surprising Los Angeles' victory over Brooklyn. Timofey Mozgov had 20 points and six rebounds for the Lakers, who maintained a steady lead down the stretch of their fourth win in five games at Staples Center this season. Russell hit seven 3-pointers and had eight rebounds during the highest-scoring performance by any Lakers player in their impressive start to the season. Los Angeles' balanced play under new coach Luke Walton has put the Lakers (7-5) two games above.500 for just the second time since April 2013. Brook Lopez had 30 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets.

LeBron scores 28 as Cavs edge Raptors 121-117 for 9th win article.wn.com

2016-11-16 03:08 Associated Press www.dailymail.co.uk

39 /100 (1.02/9) 0.0 Aussie chief selector quits over Test crisis Australia's chairman of selectors Rod Marsh Wednesday quit with immediate effect after a run of five heavy Test defeats left the team in crisis, saying it was time for "some fresh thinking". The former wicketkeeping great, 69, stepped down amid recriminations about the poorly performing team which crashed to its third straight home series defeat to South Africa on Tuesday. "This is my own decision and no one within Cricket Australia has pressured me or even suggested that I should do this," Marsh said in a statement. Cricket Australia said it would hold an extraordinary meeting later Wednesday to decide on an interim replacement, with an announcement "in due course". Marsh, one of several leading cricket officials under intense pressure, had previously insisted he would see out his contract which runs to the middle of next year. But on Wednesday he said it was time for a new perspective after a run of defeats which has prompted severe criticism in Australian media. "Clearly, it is time for some fresh thinking, just as it is for our Test team to welcome some new faces as we build for the future," Marsh said. "I have always had the best interests of Australian cricket foremost in my heart, and that's why I have made this decision. " Australia's four-man selection panel now consists of Mark Waugh, Trevor Hohns and coach Darren Lehmann. The panel has been under heavy scrutiny over the shocking results of Steve Smith's national team, culminating in their latest batting collapse of eight for 32 in their innings and 80 runs defeat to the Proteast in Hobart this week. Only hours before Marsh's announcement, Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland voiced support for him to see out his contract. "He said he will finish up June and we will make decisions about where and how we transition to that in the future," Sutherland told reporters in Hobart. Former Test fast bowler Jason Gillespie and Test captain Ricky Ponting have been touted as possible successors. Australia's team announcement for next week's third and final day-night Test in Adelaide has been delayed until Sunday so selectors can assess players' form in domestic Sheffield Shield matches.

Aussie selector quits after SA's series drubbing sport24.co.za

2016-11-16 02:55 Afp www.dailymail.co.uk

40 /100 0.0 Clarkson’s The Grand Tour will be judged ‘via Twitter’, says producer (1.02/9) The group behind The Grand Tour will use Twitter to sign a recognition with fans, a show’s writer has said.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Andy Wilman also reliable they will not be told what a observation total are.

He said: “We’ll never know a number, because, even to us, Amazon won’t tell us what a observation total are.”

Asked how they will know if viewers like a show, Wilman replied: “We’ll get it from Twitter we would imagine.” He combined that TV fans “are all there [on amicable media] with their thumbs banging away”.

The Grand Tour, that launches on Amazon Prime on Friday, stars Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond and will be a trio’s initial uncover given leaving BBC Two’s Top Gear final year.

Wilman pronounced it was a “blessing” that a artistic group behind a uncover would not be told a overnight observation figures.

“You can only make something and never have to be arrange of judged by looking for overnights and so on.

“That is utterly a liberating thing, that we will only make a show… it’s only going to exist out there.”

Do overnight TV ratings matter?

“Over time hopefully millions will watch it, though we’ve pronounced goodbye to that large figure entrance in on a Monday morning,” he added, referring to a overnight ratings a Top Gear group used to accept a morning after a Sunday night broadcast.

Some press reports have suggested that Amazon have given The Grand Tour a bill of £4m per episode.

But, Wilman said: “That figure is nonsense. It was reported in a papers and it’s stranded there for good now. It’s not true. It’s reduce than that. I’m not going to tell we a figure though it’s a good whack.”

Asked either a bill was aloft than a £1m per part a BBC reportedly spent on Top Gear, Wilman replied: “It’s some-more than that. Somewhere between £1m and £4m.”

One part of The Grand Tour will be expelled per week – distinct many programmes promote on streaming platforms that recover all their episodes during once for viewers to watch when they wish.

Speaking about a one-per-week release, Wilman said: “It’s a good thing given if it was Breaking Bad or something like that, you’ve got a tract and we go ‘Oh I’ve got to see a subsequent one’.

“There’s no tract in what we do. It’s 3 disproportionate idiots doing stuff. There’s zero to make we go ‘I’ve got to watch a subsequent one’, so I’m happy there’s a opening between any one.”

He combined that Amazon had had “no editorial input” in a creation of The Grand Tour.

“They only left us alone,” he said. “The BBC left us alone as well, in a main, editorially. Amazon have finished a really same thing.

“We make a show, we send it over, thankfully they’re creation good noises when they see it.”

Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts , on Instagram during bbcnewsents , or if we have a story idea email [email protected] . Time to get into gear on 'The Grand Tour' timeslive.co.za

2016-11-16 00:00 admin headlinenewstoday.net

41 /100 0.0 Novak Djokovic outlasts Milos Raonic at ATP finals

(1.02/9) Novak Djokovic continued his quest to regain the World No. 1 ranking by outlasting Canadian Milos Raonic 7- 6 (6), 7-6 (5) in Tuesday's group play of the ATP finals in London.

The Serbian recently dropped behind Andy Murray and the possibility looms that the two stars could face each other in Sunday's final to decide the overall ranking.

"I have never felt unbeatable and I never will," Djokovic said. "I don't feel vulnerable. "

Djokovic received a tough test from Raonic, who couldn't get over the hump in either tiebreaker.

"It was a very close match. Very few points separated us tonight," said Djokovic, who improved to 2-0 in group play. "It really could have gone either way. "

"I was fortunate to get through the first set tiebreaker. I was down very early in both tiebreaks tonight. But I just managed to stay committed and put pressure on his second serves. "

In their past eight meetings, Djokovic has won 18 of 19 sets against Raonic.

Raonic is 1-1 in group play and will face Austrian Dominic Thiem on Thursday for a spot in the semifinals.

Thiem, also 1-1, put himself in that position by defeating France's Gael Monfils 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.

"Very happy that when I'm facing him that there's still something going on," Thiem said. "Potentially, I have the chance to reach the semifinals. Just try to get fit again for the last match and go. "

Monfils dropped to 0-2 and went down with a possible knee injury during the match before being able to continue. Monfils is schedule to face Djokovic on Thursday.

"I will try to recover because obviously I'm not good enough to play back-to-back," Monfils said. "So hopefully, you know, I'll be much better. "

David Goffin of Belgium is the alternate.

Djokovic digs deep to repel Raonic onslaught article.wn.com

2016-11-16 02:43 www.upi.com

42 /100 (1.02/9) 3.3 Florida A&M beats Trinity Baptist 94-62. Craig Bowman made three 3-pointers and scored 16 points, Desmond Williams had 14 points and eight rebounds, and Florida A&M beat Trinity Baptist 94-62 on Tuesday night.

Marcus Barham added 11 points for Florida A&M (1-1), and Leon Williams and Justin Ravenel scored 10 points apiece. The Rattlers made 54 percent of their field goals, including 8 of 23 from 3-point range.

Darnel Antoine led Trinity Baptist with 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting. Brandon Tucker added 10 points and Ernest Johnson grabbed 14 rebounds. The Eagles were just 22 of 72 from the field (31 percent) and turned it over 17 times.

Nelson scored career-high 28, Fairfield tops Dartmouth 79-62 wtop.com

2016-11-16 02:37 The Associated www.charlotteobserver.com

43 /100 0.0 Anthony Brooklier, attorney for 'Hollywood Madam,' dies (1.02/9) Anthony Brooklier, a prominent and polished Los Angeles lawyer whose clients included "Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss and his own mob-boss father, has died at age 70. LA County coroner's Lt. ... Anthony Brooklier, Attorney for 'Hollywood Madam,' Dies abcnews.go.com

2016-11-16 02:35 system article.wn.com

44 /100 0.0 South Korea prosecutors quiz former vice sports minister Choi Soon- Sil (1.02/9) South Korean prosecutors questioned a former vice sports minister on Wednesday as their probe into the corruption scandal engulfing President Park Geun-Hye spreads to preparations for the 2018 Winter Olympics. ...

South Korea prosecutors quiz former vice sports minister dailymail.co.uk

2016-11-16 02:18 system article.wn.com

45 /100 0.0 Australia takes delivery of first P-8A anti-submarine jet

(1.02/9) Australia's prime minister on Wednesday took delivery of the air force's first Boeing P-8A surveillance and anti-submarine aircraft which will take a front-line role in preventing asylum seekers from reaching the Australian coast by boat. ... Australia Takes Delivery of First P-8A Anti-Submarine Jet abcnews.go.com

2016-11-16 02:08 system article.wn.com

46 /100 0.0 Wildfires char over 80,000 acres in the parched South

(1.02/9) ATLANTA — Dozens of large wildfires raged on Tuesday in the South, where more than 80,000 acres have burned and where emergency officials faced ominous forecasts of more dry weather and spreading flames.

Although the fires often stayed miles from cities and towns, the blazes had broad effects in the South. Smoke drifted far from the fires, reaching places like Atlanta and Charleston, S. C., and prompting state environmental agencies to issue air-quality warnings.

The National Interagency Fire Center said that nearly 40,000 acres had been charred in North Carolina, plus 29,000 acres in Georgia. The authorities, who shut down roads and ordered evacuations in some areas, were also responding to fires in Alabama, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, federal officials said.

“It’s a totally fluid situation,” said Justin Upchurch, the assistant fire chief in Rabun County in Appalachian Georgia, where officials suspected an arsonist. “We can plan for something today and conditions change, or the fire moves a different direction than we plan on.”

More than 3,700 people have been assigned to fight the South’s wildfires, which are burning through an already rain-starved region where drought conditions are worsening. The U. S. Drought Monitor reported last week that 21 percent of the Southeast was in “extreme” or “exceptional” drought, the two highest ratings, and meteorologists do not expect significant rainfall anytime soon.

“The weather has not been conducive for large fire growth the past couple days, but those conditions will change later this week,” the North Carolina Forest Service warned in an update about the Party Rock Fire, which has engulfed more than 3,700 acres near Lake Lure elsewhere in Appalachia and is only 15 percent contained. “The passage of a strong cold front this Saturday will bring little to no moisture to the fire.”

The weekend’s weather conditions — stronger winds, higher temperatures and lower humidity — “will support rapid fire growth,” the North Carolina authorities said Tuesday, one day after the governor said the state’s wildfires were comparable to past episodes in California. The region’s largest blaze, named the Rough Ridge Fire and burning through part of the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia, grew to more than 21,000 acres by Tuesday morning, nearly a month after it started because of a lightning strike.

Hospitals and public health officials said a modest increase of patients with respiratory difficulties was probably connected to the fires.

“Since these fires have started and the air quality has gotten so poor, we are having a very quick ramp-up of visits,” said Robert Hamilton III, the medical director of emergency services for Erlanger Health System in Chattanooga, Tenn., an Appalachian city where he said “everywhere smells like a campfire.”

Most patients are being treated and released, officials said, but schools changed plans for athletic practices, some residents wore masks and others stayed inside while haze settled over their towns.

“People are really kind of holed up in their homes where they have their air-conditioning on, which filters the air and makes the air quality better,” Dr. Hamilton said. “Our outdoor community has kind of moved indoors because of the fire.”

Authorities warned that it could take weeks to contain some of the blazes, particularly because of the limited prospects for rain.

“We’re going to be dealing with smoke and the aftereffects of this for a while,” said Mr. Upchurch, whose county had a fire on Tuesday that might not be contained until mid-December. “It’s not like a house fire where you dump X number of gallons and it goes out, and it’s over. This is something that’s going to take time to resolve it.”

North Georgia wildfire reaches more than 23,000 acres - Story fox5atlanta.com

2016-11-16 00:50 By Alan www.post-gazette.com

47 /100 0.0 No. 5 North Carolina rolls past Long Beach State 93-67 :: WRALSportsFan.com (1.02/9) Posted 11:29 p.m. yesterday Updated 11:31 p.m. yesterday

By AARON BEARD, AP Basketball Writer

CHAPEL HILL, N. C. — North Carolina keeps sharing the ball and putting up big numbers, proving the fifth-ranked Tar Heels still have plenty of offensive punch despite losing a lot of production from last year.

Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams is more focused on getting more consistency from his team on the defensive end, and maybe a little more attention to detail, too.

Joel Berry II scored 23 points and UNC shot 53 percent to beat Long Beach State 93-67 on Tuesday night for a third straight lopsided win to open the season.

Kennedy Meeks added 15 points for the Tar Heels (3-0), who scored the game's first 14 points and led by 23 points by halftime. That dominating start was enough to erase any doubt about the outcome, though Williams was aggravated enough at one sloppy second-half stretch that he angrily punched a clipboard to the court during a timeout.

"That first 10 minutes of the second half ... that was about as bad offensively as I've seen us in 31 practices and three games and one exhibition," Williams said, adding he also wants more from his team defensively.

Still, that stretch was little more than a blip, the kind of moment that will give Williams something to focus on in coming practices. The Tar Heels — who shot 59 percent in the opening half — never let the 49ers closer than 16 after halftime.

Gabe Levin scored 17 points for Long Beach State (1-2), who never recovered from an awful start that included making 8 of 31 shots (26 percent) in the first half. The 49ers finished at 36 percent and missed 20 of 26 3-pointers.

"I'm disappointed that we didn't take advantage of the opportunity to come out here and play a little better early," Long Beach State coach Dan Monson said.

BIG PICTURE

Long Beach State: This game came roughly 48 hours after a loss at Wichita State as part of a demanding opening stretch that includes a stop at No. 12 Louisville on Thursday as well as visits to UCLA, Washington and Kansas before the end of November. So far, at least, Long Beach State is struggling to keep up, losing the past two games by a combined 63 points.

"This game will help us get better," Monson said. "Hopefully Thursday will too. "

UNC: Williams' angst aside, the Tar Heels' offense has gotten off to a quick start. They had 20 assists on 32 baskets after assisting on 72 percent of their made shots through the first two games. They have also scored at least 93 points in all three games — so far, so good for an offense with new people inheriting key roles from last year's NCAA finalist.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

UNC's three wins have come by an average of nearly 29 points per game, part of the reason the Tar Heels climbed one spot in this week's AP Top 25 poll. BERRY'S START

Berry is off to a fast start in his development as UNC's No. 1 threat. He matched his career-high scoring total set in the opening win against Tulane to go with six rebounds, four assists and one turnover in 21 minutes.

The junior is shooting 60 percent from the floor so far this season.

"I'm just taking open shots," Berry said. "I'm not trying to force anything, not trying to play outside of my game and trying to do what I have to do to help this team. "

THEY SAID IT

"A lot of curse words, just telling us to get our stuff together because we were playing bad. " — Meeks on Williams' angry timeout message.

UP NEXT

Long Beach State: The 49ers continue their nationwide trek at No. 12 Louisville.

UNC: The Tar Heels head west for an extended trip, first to play Hawaii on Friday before beginning play in the Maui Invitational over the Thanksgiving holiday.

___

Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap

___

More AP college basketball at http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/APTop_25

Photo Gallery: North Carolina 93, Long Beach State 67 | 11.15.16 newsobserver.com

2016-11-16 00:31 WRAL www.wralsportsfan.com

48 /100 0.0 Social media in China is abuzz over a bird that resembles Trump (1.02/9) This is our look at President-elect Donald Trump's transition and the outgoing Obama administration. Here's what's happening in Washington right now:

Follow us on Twitter for more, or subscribe to our free daily politics newsletter. An ear of corn. A troll doll. A caterpillar. Donald Trump’s straw- yellow hair has been compared to many things. China may have just found a new one.

Images of a golden pheasant’s impressive coif flooded Chinese social media this week, after a journalist in the eastern city of Hangzhou noted its striking resemblance to the future U. S. president.

The bird, known as “Little Red,” lives in Hangzhou Safari Park, and his feathers puff out during the winter months to keep him warm. The pheasant’s owner, Mr. Gao, told the Daily Mail he started noticing the similarity after the election.

The comparison delighted social media users.

“I’m worried this bird will be beaten by other birds,” said one person on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.

“You should say Trump’s hairstyle resembles this bird!” joked another Weibo user.

The bird's body has a reddish tinge, leading one viewer to observe that it did a nice job of sticking with the Republican color scheme.

Around 50 pheasants live in the park, but none of the others look quite so vibrant. These birds, native to China’s western mountainous regions, are a protected species in the country.

Experts know little about their behavior in the wild.

A likely beneficiary of Trump’s tough talk on trade: China cnbc.com

2016-11-16 00:15 Los Angeles www.latimes.com

49 /100 0.0 NPA's tarnished credibility must be quickly restored

(1.00/9) It is yet another blight on the authority's tarnished reputation.

The NPA is already in a state of turmoil. Abrahams' deputy, Nomgcobo Jiba, and her colleague, Lawrence Mrwebi, head of the NPA's special crimes unit, are facing suspension after the Pretoria High Court ordered that they be struck from the roll of advocates. They are appealing the decision.

They have been placed on special leave and have to give Zuma reasons why they should not be suspended.

Judge Francis Legodi found that Jiba and Mrwebi were "not fit and proper" for their jobs following their decision to drop charges against former crime intelligence head Richard Mdluli, who faced a number of indictments, including embezzlement from a secret slush fund.

We should all be extremely concerned.

The role of the NPA is to institute and conduct criminal proceedings on behalf of the state and, in a country with such a high incidence of crime, much of it sickeningly violent, the importance of this function cannot be over-estimated.

But when its top leadership is embroiled in controversy, facing allegations that they are abusing their positions to fight political battles, and needing to show why they are fit and proper to hold office, criminals have a lot less to fear and ordinary South Africans come off second-best.

Our policing and investigation can be world-class (but not always) and our judicial system is fair and independent (it has repeatedly demonstrated this) but if the body that bridges these two arms of the state is rotten, the wheels of justice will grind to a halt.

It's time to fix the NPA once and for all.

Zuma ‘heeded our advice’: DA claims victory in Abrahams saga timeslive.co.za

2016-11-16 03:57 The Times www.timeslive.co.za

50 /100 0.0 Hooker's 30 pts leads North Dakota past Mayville St, 94-66 (1.00/9) Quinton Hooker scored 30 points for the fifth time in his career and North Dakota cruised to a 94- 66 victory over NAIA Mayville State Tuesday night. Hooker knocked down 11 of 14 shots from the field and was 5 of 7 from beyond the arc and led four Fighting Hawks into double-figure scoring.

The Comets trailed by just eight points at intermission, 43-35. But North Dakota hit another gear in the second half, outscoring Mayville State by 20 points over the final 20 minutes.

Carson Shanks and Geno Crandall each added 11 points for North Dakota (2-0), with the former coming off the Fighting Hawks bench. Drick Bernstine contributed another 10 points.

North Dakota shot 53.8 percent from floor (35 of 65) and knocked down 10 of 21 from long range.

Mayville State was 24 of 60 from the field (40 percent) and 8 of 18 from distance.

Manning leads Air Force over Johnson & Wales (Colo.) 105-62 charlotteobserver.com

2016-11-16 01:08 The Associated www.charlotteobserver.com

51 /100 0.0 Fmr. Secret Service agent talks Trump Tower security

(1.00/9) How will the Secret Service deal with the massive challenges presented by Donald Trump's home in the middle of Manhattan? MSNBC's Brian Williams talks to former Secret Service agent Evy Poumpouras.

Challenge of protecting Trump Tower for NYC officials msnbc.com

2016-11-15 23:20 The 11th www.msnbc.com

52 /100 52 /100 0.0 Could Common Heartburn Drugs Increase Stroke Risk? - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports (0.62/9) A man is in the hospital after being hit by a car near the Capitol. More >>

A popular category of heartburn medications -- including Nexium, Prevacid, Prilosec and Protonix -- may increase your risk of stroke, a new study suggests. More >>

A popular category of heartburn medications -- including Nexium, Prevacid, Prilosec and Protonix -- may increase your risk of stroke, a new study suggests. More >>

76-year-old bank robbery Trump's path on health care Many outdoor activities Man In Hospital After Being suspect has long criminal law intersects with a lawsuit banned as fires burn across Hit By Car Near Capitol - history - News9.com - - News9.com - Oklahoma South - News9.com - News9.com - Oklahoma Oklahoma City, OK - News, City, OK - News, Weather, Oklahoma City, OK - News, City, OK - News, Weather, Weather, Video and Sports Video and Sports Weather, Video and Sports Video and Sports news9.com news9.com news9.com news9.com

Trump's school choice West Virginia town tries to GOP governors hope to Colorado recount possible expansion plan may face move past Michelle Obama move fast on making on slavery in state uphill battle - News9.com - post - News9.com - promised changes - Constitution - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Oklahoma City, OK - News, News9.com - Oklahoma Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports Weather, Video and Sports City, OK - News, Weather, Weather, Video and Sports news9.com news9.com Video and Sports news9.com news9.com

2016-11-16 05:03 CBS News www.news9.com

53 /100 0.0 San Mateo students promote respect, understanding during protest that drew hundreds (0.04/9) Hundreds of students Tuesday stormed out of three San Mateo High schools to protest the results of the presidential election. It's the seventh straight day Bay Area students have taken to the streets. The students said their message was one of respect and understanding in the face of the divisive, harsh rhetoric of the elections. A press release from the superintendent said leaving class would result in an unexcused absence, but that did not deter students. The largest group came from San Mateo High. About 300 left their classrooms. Many others in the school of 1,700 did not join. "They're walking just to go with somebody else and be followers and that's what I think people are doing today," said San Mateo High School student Mikos Maheras. "The elections are already over and all these rallies are really pointless to me," said San Mateo High School student Nick Peters. As they marched toward Central Park in downtown San Mateo, those along the way expressed their support. Jessica Millan is an alum from San Mateo High. "Seeing these kids support something they truly believe in just really makes me proud," Millan said. At the park, the young demonstrators from San Mateo High were joined by those from Aragon and Hillsdale high schools. The crowd grew to about 1,000 students. Justin Sell is a student government leader form Aragon. He wanted to clarify a misconception. "Pro-respect, pro-love, pro-acceptance. Pro-understanding. It's not anti-Trump," said Sell said. Student after student reiterated that theme. "This whole election divided so many people. We should stay united," said Monserrat Diaz, an Aragon High School student. "We should all come together as one even though we have different beliefs and different backgrounds," said Aragon High School student Luiza Velloso. For the students, voicing their beliefs was democracy in action.

Hundreds protesting controversial Dakota Access Pipeline in San Francisco abc7news.com

2016-11-16 02:00 (Copyright abc7news.com

54 /100 0.0 Demi Moore, 54, looks frozen in time as she shows off line-free complexion at screening for David O. Russell and Prada collaboration (0.02/9) With her fresh radiant skin and remarkable lack of lines, she could be mistaken for twenty years younger. Demi Moore looked better than ever as she stepped out in Los Angeles for a night honouring David O. Russell's collaboration with Prada to create a short film called Past Forward. The 54-year-old showed up looking radiant in a gossamer white dress with pink, green and blue floral detailing. The thrice-married mother-of-three's dress with sheer overlay featured a high collar with a bow and long sleeves. She wore nude stiletto heels with funky brown stocking socks that were pulled up to above the ankle. Demi carried a metallic clutch and a brown coat. Demi was married to Bruce Willis from 1987 until 2000, though they separated two years earlier. Speaking about the split, the Die Hard star said: 'I felt I had failed as a father and a husband by not being able to make it work.' He moved on, and is now married to Emma Hemming, who he has two daughters with, while Demi is currently dating 28-year-old drummer Sean Friday. The mother-of-three will star in the new comedy flick Rock That Body, which also features Scarlett Johansson and Zoe Kravitz. The film, set for release in June 2017, follows a bachelorette party in Miami, which goes horribly wrong when a male stripper ends up dead in the pool. She has also just wrapped filming for Blind, a new emotional tearjerker directed by Michael Mailer which is expected to debut early next year. The film tells the story of a novelist who is blinded in a car crash that killed his wife. Several years later the writer, played by Alec Baldwin, rediscovers his passion for life and writing when he falls in love with the wife of an indicted businessman (Moore).

Allison Williams strikes a Milla Jovovich leads style flirty pose in floral patterned crowd at LA screening for frock at special Los Angeles David O Russell and Prada screening for David O. collaboration Russell and Prada dailymail.co.uk collaboration dailymail.co.uk

2016-11-16 03:06 Dailymail.com www.dailymail.co.uk

55 /100 0.0 How I view the motion of no-confidence against President Zuma (0.01/9) Everytime the DA put forward the motion of no-confidence against President Jacob Zuma is like a test of character to ANC delegates in Parliament.

Here's how I interpret the situation:

The motion is based on valid ground but the issue is political scoring of political parties.

Arrogance of the ANC not wanting to listen to the opposition or being seen as being dictated to take a decision by opposition.

Lack of conscience as perpetrated by the general secretary of the ANC that people must be dried up conscience wise to suit the current embattled ANC clowns.

Lack of vision on the whole ANC executive delegates to move South Africa forward. Fear that has befallen everyone in leadership of ANC around Zuma. He has became a fearful demon.

Way forward opposition and ANC MPs need to remember that they are sitting on those parliamentarians chair to further the agenda of African Renaissance and most the South African agenda of fighting against poverty and underdevelopment.

The future of South Africa will be realised by men and women who will put their differences aside for the good of humanity on planet Earth. I quote former President Nelson Mandela: "it is in your hands to contribute positive towards a better life for all".

Motion of no-confidence a tactical error news24.com

2016-11-16 05:43 www.news24.com

56 /100 0.0 Stairway to heaven: Iranian artist’s wall mural turns heads (0.01/9) BOSTON >> A giant mural by an Iranian artist making his U. S. debut is turning heads in one of Boston’s busiest areas. The artwork by Mehdi Ghadyanloo titled “Spaces of Hope” is a stunning expression of optimism he hopes can lead to better understanding between the peoples of the two nations. The mural across the street from South Station depicts a line of about 200 people, many holding red helium balloons, ascending a spiral staircase to an opening in the roof where a single giant balloon slips into the blue sky. He says his mural is all about inspiration and hope, and wants it to serve as a bridge between cultures. The mural was commissioned by the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, which oversees the land. ...

Stairway to heaven: Iranian artist's wall mural turns heads article.wn.com 2016-11-16 02:37 system article.wn.com

57 /100 0.0 Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson hang with longtime friends Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw at MOMA tribute to actor (0.01/9) Tom Hanks was honored on Tuesday evening at the 2016 Museum Of Modern Art Film Benefit in New York City. And it looks like the Oscar winner invited some of his power pals. The 60-year-old Sully star and his actress wife Rita Wilson posed with longtime collaborator Steven Spielberg as well as his spouse Kate Capshaw. Rita, 60, looked beautiful in a black lace number with a belt and shawl. Diamond sparkled around her neck and on her fingers. Hanks dressed up in a navy suit with tie. And Steven, 69, and Capshaw, 63, were nicely coordinated in black. They have been married since 1991. Hanks brought along Lorrie Sullenberger and Chesley Sullenberger, who were the inspiration for the movie Sully. The Vogue model wore a black dress and diamonds with her hair worn up highlighting her incredibly photogenic face. The wife of actor Ed Burns had on a short- sleeved dress that appeared to have sheer fabric over a grey camisole. The skirt part went below her knees, most of it sheer, showing off her legs. Strappy heels added even more va- voom. Diamond on her ears sparkled, making her look like a modern-day Holly Golightly. The mother of two has said that she keeps her curves by doing yoga and jogging. And the workouts have paid off as the veteran still lands modeling gigs, most recently for John Galliano. Also at the event was Emma Watson, who won points with her classy velvet dress and matching choker. The star tied her ombre locks away from her face and went for a natural palette of make-up. The young actress stars in the upcoming live feature Beauty And The Beast alongside British actor Dan Stevens. The official trailer was released on Monday and has already become the most watched trailer in 24 hours. The highly anticipated film hits theatres March 17. Aaron Eckhart, who was Hanks' co-star in Sully, looked suave in a classic black suit and white shirt. Also in attendance at the lavish event was Steve Martin and Homeland's Damien Lewis who both looked dapper in their attire. Talk show host Stephen Colbert and his wife Evelyn McGee- Colbert made a cute couple on the red carpet. Leelee Sobieski and Rachel Roy also made an appearance at the event. Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg made a smart couple on the carpet, both opting to wear black for the occasion. While Emma stunned on the carpet for Hanks' event, it won't be long until she is the belle of the ball. Christy Turlington looks elegant at Tom Hanks tribute at NYC's MOMA dailymail.co.uk

2016-11-16 01:02 Heidi Parker www.dailymail.co.uk

58 /100 0.0 Devin Brugman and Natasha Oakley flaunt natural curves in bikinis in Bondi Beach snaps (0.01/9) There's nothing Devin Brugman and Natasha Oakley like more than a bikini shoot, as their social media accounts are littered with them. And once again the dynamic duo were spotted flaunting their beach bodies in skimpy swimsuits on Bondi Beach, on Wednesday. Holding hands, Devin and Natasha showed off their natural curves as they smiled bright in candid snaps taken on the sand - which have not yet been posted to Instagram. Scroll down for video Natasha wore a colourful triangle bikini with a matching sarong while Devin opted for a simple cream design. She arrived onto the beach in a black sarong and sunglasses, which she quickly ditched to dive into the water. Natasha arrived with a wide brim straw hat and coconut water, which she too put aside so she could show off her bikini with a few textbook angles. The bloggers have mastered the art of Instagram and getting the perfect angles to showcase their swimwear and figures. On Monday, Tash did upload a new bikini snap to acknowledge her new campaign partnership with Seafolly Australia. 'So excited to announce that my reason for being home in Sydney is because of my collaboration with @seafollyaustralia to celebrate the beginning of the Australian summer,' she captioned the picture. 'I will be hosting two really exciting events within Australia that I can't wait to share with you! Stay tuned!' Devin and Tash recently flew into Sydney from their LA homes to take part in a special pop-up event for their website A Bikini A Day. Tash and Devin rose to fame through their blog filled with bikini-clad snaps and recently launched an activewear line following on from the success of their swimwear line. Their first swimwear collection sold out over a couple of months and they now share a combined following of 3 million followers, and rising, on Instagram alone. Speaking of how she keeps in shape, Tash told Women's Health devices often worn by celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, are 'extremely unhealthy'. 'I would never in a million years endorse something like waist-trainers,' she said emphatically. Devin Brugman flaunts her voluptuous assets in flimsy string bikini on Bondi Beach dailymail.co.uk

2016-11-16 00:28 Hanna Flint www.dailymail.co.uk

59 /100 0.0 The Alphabet That Will Save a People From Disappearing Twenty-six years ago, two brothers decided their native language needed a new alphabet. The scripts they’d been using to read and write their native Fulani, an African language spoken by at least 40 million people, weren’t working well.

Fulani’s sounds were rendered imprecisely by the Arabic alphabet, the script most often used to write it; the Latin alphabet presented similar problems. Neither the Arabic nor the Latin alphabets could accurately spell Fulani words that require producing a “b” or a “d” sound while gulping in air, for example, so Fulani speakers had modified both alphabets with new symbols—often in inconsistent ways.

“Why do Fulani people not have their own writing system?” Abdoulaye Barry remembers asking his father one day in elementary school. The variety of writing styles made it difficult for families and friends who lived in different countries to communicate easily. Abdoulaye’s father, who learned Arabic in Koranic schools, often helped friends and family in Nzérékoré—Guinea’s second-largest city—decipher letters they received, reading aloud the idiosyncratically modified Arabic scripts. As they grew older, Abdoulaye and his brother Ibrahima began to translate letters, too.

“Those letters were very difficult to read even if you were educated in Arabic,” Abdoulaye said. “You could hardly make out what was written.”

So, in 1990, the brothers started coming up with an alternative. Abdoulaye was 10 years old; Ibrahima was 14.

After school, they’d shut themselves in their rooms to draw, filling blank composition books they brought home from the classroom with the shapes that would make up their new alphabet. They’d take turns drawing letters, and together, assigned sounds to the shapes they came up with. Six months later, they had a working script. Like Arabic, its 28 letters were written right to left. But unlike Arabic, whose short vowels are written as diacritical marks above and below letters, the script assigned its five vowels proper letters. It looked something like a cursive version of Ethiopic. Ibrahima and Abdoulaye’s parents started taking their project seriously, and invited one of their father’s relatives, who had an influential post in the local government, for a demonstration.

The visitor tested them: With Abdoulaye in the other room, Ibrahima would take dictation. When Abdoulaye returned, he read aloud what his brother had written. They switched and repeated the test. Over and over, the brothers consistently read out the right sounds, even those unique to Fulani. Crucially, they spelled the same complicated words in the same ways, independently of one another.

The visitor turned to their father. “Oh, yes, these kids are being serious,” he said.

It’s not every day that a new alphabet is born. The scripts in widest use today—Latin, Chinese, Arabic, Devanagari, Cyrillic—are all at least a thousand years old, and they each evolved from earlier alphabets. Creating a new script and getting it adopted widely is an enormous challenge. The Cherokee alphabet is a notable success story. In the early 19th century, a man named Sequoyah created a script for writing his native Cherokee, which until then had only ever been spoken aloud. At first, many thought his scribbles were meaningless, and that he was playing tricks on people. But in a blind test not unlike the one Abdoulaye and Ibrahima would complete more than a century and a half later, Sequoyah and his daughter, who had also learned the alphabet, proved that the symbols they’d drawn actually represented words by reading what the other had written.

Sequoyah began to teach others to read and write, and his simple alphabet spread quickly among tribe members. In 1828, just seven years after Sequoyah invented the alphabet, the first- ever Cherokee-language printing press was used to publish the Cherokee Phoenix , a newspaper that was distributed for free to Cherokee speakers who didn’t know English. The press helped standardize and simplify the script, and made it possible to quickly publish newspapers and books.

Today, the computer-age equivalent of casting metal type in the shape of a new alphabet is encoding an alphabet in the worldwide typography standard known as Unicode. The Unicode Consortium , a nonprofit organization, develops standards for the way letters and numbers appear on computer screens. Since 1991, a group of technology companies have worked together to develop a universal character set—a system of coding letters, numbers, and symbols that allows computers to render any supported language in the world.

Cherokee was added to the Unicode standard in 1999, but it wasn’t until 2003 that Apple created a Cherokee keyboard for Mac computers. The first Cherokee keyboard arrived on Windows several years later. Today, Cherokee keyboards exist on iPhones and Android devices, and Facebook, Gmail, and Google Search all support the language.

The Cherokee Nation has put a particular emphasis on language development: The language program has 13 full-time employees, many of whom worked with Google for two years to implement Android support for the alphabet. Even so, its progress toward digital inclusion has been slow.

“A script is not a biological entity,” said Kamal Mansour, a specialist in non-Latin typography at Monotype who represents the company on the Unicode Consortium. “It doesn’t live alone. It has to have acceptance from people.”

“In Africa, there’s been a spate of inventions from very clever people,” he continued. “But many don’t gain acceptance, and they just die off.”

The Barry brothers had a long path ahead of them.

During the decade after that first big test in the brothers’ house, their new alphabet—yet unnamed—spread at an astounding rate. Eventually, it would come to be called Adlam, after its first four letters: the equivalents of a, d, l, and m. The word is also an acronym for a phrase that translates to “the alphabet that will save a people from disappearing.”

They started by teaching their friends and family, asking each student to teach three others. They transcribed school books—algebra, geometry, history—using their script, copying them into the very same blank composition books that were home to their first sketches.

In junior high school, they started visiting neighborhoods and markets to teach larger groups of people. Their big break came in 1993, when Abdoulaye—still a high schooler—traveled to Conakry, Guinea’s capital city, during summer vacation. There, he tracked down a famous radio personality and got himself invited onto his show, where he demonstrated the script live on air, as the host described what he saw. “That’s how the whole country learned about Adlam,” Abdoulaye says.

By the mid-1990s, the brothers could walk into a market in a new part of Guinea and see people they’d never met reading and writing their alphabet. Many Fula people are nomadic farmers or traders, and the brothers credit their transitory nature with the writing system’s quick propagation.

When Abdoulaye and Ibrahima moved to Conakry for college, in the late 1990s, their work on Adlam slowed, but Ibrahima dove back in with enthusiasm toward the end of his five-year civil engineering program. Others began getting involved in the development of Adlam through a student group called “Winden Jangen,” Fulani for “reading and writing.” The brothers transcribed more and more books, still by hand, with no help but a supply of carbon-copy paper they received as a gift from their relative in the government.

But the new alphabet wasn’t sitting too well with others in power. During his last year in college, Ibrahima was arrested and put in prison for three months. He says he was never told exactly why he was imprisoned—officers raided a Winden Jangen meeting one day and hauled him away, he recalls—but he suspects that his work had made some people nervous. “Maybe they feared that he was trying to instigate something bigger because they did not understand the script,” Abdoulaye said.

When Ibrahima was released, he was invigorated rather than discouraged. He set about writing with even more gusto, and started a Fulani-language newspaper, writing each issue by hand and distributing photocopies. He traveled to neighboring Senegal, where Fulani is also an official language, to try and spread Adlam—only to find that it had preceded him. Someone told him a palm-oil trader had been distributing his books in Senegal, the Gambia, Sierra Leone, and the Ivory Coast.

The brothers soon realized that Adlam reached a crossroads. “We knew that the only way to spread Adlam faster and publish more books was to have it in computers,” Abdoulaye told me. To bring the script into the digital world, Ibrahima and Abdoulaye looked overseas.

They didn’t know it yet, but the help the brothers would need was tucked away in a maze of an academic building at the University of California, Berkeley. That’s where Deborah Anderson, a linguistics researcher, manages a program called the Script Coding Initiative. Since its founding, in 2002, the program has played a role in getting more than 70 scripts added to the Unicode standard, by helping to write detailed proposals for the organization’s technical committee and providing funding for the work.

With money from donors like Google, UNESCO, and the National Endowment for the Arts, Anderson’s mission is to help encode scripts that might not otherwise end up in front of the Unicode committee. That includes historic scripts—one of her current projects aims to drastically expand the set of supported Egyptian hieroglyphs, to help Egyptologists who can’t currently use search functions or copy/paste in their research—and scripts used by linguistic or religious minorities.

Preserving those living scripts through type can promote ethnic pride and identification, Anderson said, and encourage literacy and education in native languages. “By not including such scripts, the web will be relegated to the more politically prominent scripts and the languages using them,” she said in an email.

In Unicode’s early years, there was little focus on minority or dead scripts. The original proposal for the system, written in 1988, makes clear that the body would prioritize modern languages over “preserving past antiquities.” But the first Unicode standard, published in 1991, indicated that “less common and archaic scripts” could find their way into future versions. Indeed, Unicode 3.0, which was published in 1999, included Syriac Aramaic and Norse runes—both dead languages—alongside modern non-Latin scripts like Cherokee and Ethiopic.

Without Berkeley’s script lab, many of the alphabets currently in Unicode may never have been encoded. Since a lot of funding for technology comes from hubs in the United States, Europe, and China, languages spoken in those areas are best supported on computers and phones, while others haven’t gotten as much attention. Alphabets used to write languages spoken by communities without political clout are especially likely to be glossed over, potentially accelerating their demise as their speakers are forced to depend on technology that operates in English or French or Chinese instead of in their native tongue.

Being added to the Unicode standard is still only the first step in a script’s path toward digital relevance. Next, technology companies have to be convinced to support the alphabet on their desktop and mobile operating systems, and social-networking platforms like Twitter have to translate their apps and websites to work with the script. For users to actually be able to type in the alphabet, developers have to create virtual keyboards for smartphones, and keyboard layouts for computers made to work with other scripts. The entire process can take years.

Ibrahima and Abdoulaye moved from West Coast to West Coast: Abdoulaye went first, traveling from Guinea to Portland, Oregon, with his American wife in 2003, and got a night job as a revenue auditor for Hilton Hotels and Resorts while he studied finance. Ibrahima joined him in Portland in 2007.

In between work and school, the brothers saved up enough to pay for the development of the first Adlam keyboard and font. They found a software company in Seattle that makes specialty fonts, and, in 2008, they were able to type in Adlam for the first time. It was a huge step, but it came with disappointment: Since Adlam was not yet supported by Unicode, if they sent a document written in Adlam to someone without the font installed, the recipient would see only a nonsensical jumble of random, disconnected Arabic letters. That’s when the importance of being included in Unicode sank in.

For the next few years, development largely stalled. The brothers worked and studied, and continued supporting Adlam schools at home and in the United States. Ibrahima signed up for a calligraphy class in Portland, hoping to streamline the shapes of the letters he and his brother had first sketched on notebook paper decades ago.

At a calligraphy conference in Portland, he met an artist named Randall Hasson, who invited him to present Adlam at another event in Colorado Springs in 2013. (Hasson wrote about his first meeting with Ibrahima on his blog .)

In Colorado, an audience member asked Ibrahima what he wanted for his alphabet. “I said I want only one thing,” Ibrahima told me. “I just want the script to be encoded. To be in Unicode. That is my main goal.”

A type designer in attendance knew just who could make that happen. He introduced the brothers to Anderson, the linguist at Berkeley, who in turn put them in touch with Michael Everson, one of the co-authors of the Unicode Standard and a prolific writer of script proposals. As a part of the Script Encoding Initiative, Everson had already written upward of 60 proposals that had been accepted by Unicode—and he said he was willing to take this one on, too.

I asked Everson if any of the alphabet’s quirks presented challenges—the fact that it’s written right to left, for example, or the fact that the letters are connected to one another—but he said it was nothing new. What was new was that the script wasn’t yet set in stone.

“Mr. Barry had learnt calligraphy and was working really hard on optimizing stroke order and [duration],” Everson said. “I was saying, ‘You have to stop tinkering with this.’ If he wanted this to be stable he needed to stop altering it.”

With partial funding from the Berkeley encoding lab—Everson says he volunteered his time and resources to cover the rest of the cost—he worked with the brothers and the Fulani community in the U. S. to create a proposal. “It’s very well developed and well designed,” Everson said of the script. “These guys should be really proud of themselves.”

Abdoulaye and Ibrahima traveled to the 2014 meeting of the Unicode Technical Committee in Sunnyvale, California, to iron out the last kinks in their proposal. That same month, the committee voted to approve Adlam.

“I can’t even describe the feeling,” Abdoulaye said. He tried anyway: “When we got the email that we were officially encoded, we were very, very happy.”

Open up the settings on any smartphone and scroll through the keyboard options. If you’re holding an iPhone, you’ll find Macedonian and Telugu and Catalan—but not Adlam. The alphabet was included in Unicode 9.0, which was published this summer, but technology companies haven’t leapt at the chance to use it in apps and keyboards.

Like Cherokee during the four-year lull between its induction in Unicode 3.0 and the first official support for its alphabet on Macs, Adlam is in purgatory. Neither Windows, nor Apple, nor Google supports it on their operating systems yet, and although Facebook recently added an option to use the network in Fulani, it used the Latin script rather than Adlam.

Last month, some hope came in the form of an enormous font family called “ Noto ,” the culmination of a five-year collaboration between Google and Monotype that aims to create a typeface that supports more than 800 languages, all in a unified style. It already covers more than 30 alphabets—every single one released in Unicode 6.1, including Cherokee—and in its next phase of development, Google says it will cover 100 percent of Unicode 9.0, which includes Adlam. The Google font is an important step, but it doesn’t yet mean Adlam will be supported on an operating system anytime soon.

Instead of waiting for official support for Adlam to arrive, some Fulani speakers have gone ahead and created their own apps. Two Android apps already allow smartphone users to text each other in Adlam (as long as both have the “Adlam SMS” app installed) and learn the Adlam alphabet on their device.

For their part, the brothers—now in their 40s—have focused recently on expanding the alphabet’s role in education. Adlam is now being taught in more than 10 countries in West and Central Africa, and it’s making it easier for speakers of different dialects of Fulani, from Senegal to Sudan to Cameroon, to communicate with one another.

Ibrahima recently finished writing the first-ever Adlam grammar book, and he’d like to create a Fulani dictionary in Adlam. Both brothers want to open more schools in Guinea and in nearby countries, with the hope of augmenting the French-speaking education system with one that teaches kids in their native language. The formal education system is exclusionary, they say, because it considers people illiterate if they can’t read and write French—the colonial language —rather than asking whether or not they can read or write their own native tongue.

“That’s one of the things that’s really hindering the progress in Africa and Guinea in particular,” Ibrahima says. “We spend so many resources learning new languages, even though we already have languages that we can use to develop our countries.”

Facebook is the next big tech target for the brothers. “Today, the world is connected through the different platforms,” Abdoulaye said. “Until these platforms support our script, it won’t be acceptable, especially to the young generation.”

Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook all declined to comment on whether they planned to support the script. Given how long it took to get Cherokee onto phones, tablets, and computers —and how many other languages still lack official support—Adlam may not fully inhabit the digital world for quite a while still.

I asked Roy Boney, the manager of the Cherokee Language Program, what advice he’d give the Barry brothers. He said the biggest hurdle his project faced was his own community’s impatience. “It takes a while, especially for minority languages,” Boney said, adding that “some people thought this wasn’t necessary for the language.”

Howard Gutowitz, the CEO of Eatoni, a company that makes apps in hundreds of different languages, was less hopeful. Five years ago, Gutowitz was involved in an effort to get N’Ko, an alphabet for writing another of Guinea’s national languages, supported by cellphone manufacturers like Nokia. I called him up to see how it turned out.

Chinese Characters Are Futuristic and the Alphabet Is Old News “After banging my head against that wall for many years, I decided not to bother anymore,” Gutowitz told me. He thought he might have better luck with apps, and released a calculator app in 200 languages to see which would be most popular. The N’Ko version did pretty well, he said, as did a couple other surprising languages, like Tibetan. The app was a sort of market research, to see which communities are hungriest for localized software.

His advice for the Barrys isn’t too upbeat. “Well, the first thing that comes to mind is, ‘Give up,’” he sighed. “The less despairing remark is, ‘Yeah, build an app; that’s what we did.’”

If an app does well, he says, it can signal to tech companies that it’s worth sinking resources into supporting a particular language. “The appeal to equity or rightness or preservation of languages, I think that’s going to fall on deaf ears when it comes to manufacturers that care about market or money.”

But take the long view and things might not seem quite so bleak. Mansour, the Monotype designer, has been involved in type development for decades. He says it’s easy to forget how far things have come since the ’90s, when the internet was dominated almost entirely by the basic Latin alphabet.

“You couldn’t even type Baltic languages like Estonian or Lithuanian. You couldn’t! You had to buy an Eastern European supplement [software package],” Mansour said. “Now, nobody thinks of that. We collectively forget the stages of development that have happened. Now, you could even type Icelandic on an Arabic system, if you wanted.”

For speakers of Fulani, there’s still no easy way to type the only alphabet designed for their language. The script’s inventors—still its chief advocates—hauled their writing system all the way from hand-drawn shapes on school notebooks to the doorstep of tech companies, neatly packaged into a Unicode block. All that’s left is to hammer on the door until it opens.

2016-11-16 05:30 Kaveh Waddell www.theatlantic.com

60 /100 0.0 Britain STILL handing out millions of pounds to new superpowers India and China Britain is still pouring millions of pounds of aid into India and super-rich China despite a pledge to stop rolling out cash to economic powers, a report found. The Government has maintained its controversial pledge to spend 0.7per cent of national income on foreign aid – a figure which means the UK will continue to lavish £12billion on aid every year. Following widespread concern that money was being frittered away, the new International Development Secretary Priti Patel promised an overhaul to make the system 'deliver for our national interests'. While many schemes offering direct aid to wealthier nations have been cut, a major new report has concluded 'significant' cashflows have continued through 'other channels'. A watchdog, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI), accused the Government of actually 'scaling up' assistance it was offering foreign powers, while 'creating an impression all aid was being phased out'. In India – a country rich enough to have its own space programme – the Department for International Development (DFID) terminated 'financial aid', the review said. But it continued with technical assistance to help India spend its money, and aid-funded loans and equity investments, according to the body which scrutinises taxpayer-funded UK aid. Current aid spending includes: The ICAI graded DFID's performance on exiting and transitioning from countries as 'Amber-Red' – requiring significant improvement. The report added: 'In all of the cases we examined, even where DFID's in-country programmes were brought to an end, significant aid flows have continued through other channels. 'In China, DFID terminated all assistance on domestic development issues, but continues to spend £8-10 million per year from centrally managed programmes on helping China to become a more effective donor and investor in developing countries.' The report added there was 'substantial UK aid flowing to India through other channels'. China has poured billions into its space programme. The landing of its Jade Rabbit lunar rover on Saturday was watched on state TV by 1.4billion Chinese. Francesca Del Mese, the ICAI commissioner who led the review, said: 'DFID must strengthen how it plans for change in its aid relationships with countries, and ensure it communicates to UK taxpayers clearly to avoid the risk of confusion.' She added: 'Managing the transition from traditional aid to new kinds of development partnerships is increasingly important for DFID in the current aid landscape. 'This review stresses the importance of clear objectives, effective planning and strong communication. 'Without a robust process, there is the risk of misunderstanding and miscommunication about what remains as part of the UK's aid relationship, both in the countries themselves, and with the UK public.' A DFID spokesman said: 'We are disappointed that ICAI has rushed the publication of this inaccurate report that simply does not tell the whole story. 'As countries build upon their economic development Britain is determined to strengthen strategic partnerships that facilitate trade, boost business and combat poverty. 'DFID's work supports these partnerships in a manner that provides value for money, always helps the world's poorest and is open and transparent to the British public.'

2016-11-16 05:27 Larisa Brown www.dailymail.co.uk

61 /100 0.0 Emily Ratajkowski shows off incredibly perky posterior in thong swimsuit Just days before her sizzling impromptu photoshoot, Emily took to Instagram to share her thoughts on the US election results. The London-born American star posted a picture of herself wearing just a nude thong and wrote 'my body, my choice'. The phrase has long been used by the pro-choice movement to support a woman's right to have an abortion. Since audio of President-elect Donald Trump was released in which he said as he was a star he could grab women by the 'p***y', the phrase has also been used as a demand for respect for women and a protest against rape culture. Posting on Instagram stories, the model covered her chest with her hands and held on to some flowers with the phrase written at the bottom of the snap. Emily had made her feelings on Trump's win clear on Wednesday morning, posting just a black Instagram. While she wrote nothing, the post led to over a thousand comments with many being critical about the star. Emily, however, is one of the few celebrities to come out and tell their fans to not brand those who supported Trump stupid and suggest that the Democratic Party look at its role in the loss. She said in a series of Tweets: 'Can we please stop calling Americans stupid? Maybe we need to start providing better OPTIONS. 'Politics have become something the population feels belongs to some elite group of people who are just interested in "that kind of thing". 'In fact, politics are for everyone--they impact us all! When people feel disinterested in politics that's a bad sign about the government. 'Not about the population. Democracy works when candidates really represent the interests of the people. 'Ppl dismissing other ppl as stupid is how the media missed Trumps ascension and how the DNC lost its electability.'

2016-11-16 05:26 Ciara Farmer www.dailymail.co.uk

62 /100 0.0 Rachael Taylor and Krysten Ritter rock casual chic on set of The Defenders She was seen carrying a black umbrella which matched her large black handbag as she walked beside Krysten during one of their scenes together. Rachael paired her outfit with black heeled boots and dark jeans while her blonde locks were pulled back in a neat ponytail for the shoot. Krysten was seen rocking a black leather jacket and grey woolen neck wrap as she stepped out in flat heeled boots and a blue stonewashed jeans for the scene. The pair appeared heavy in conversation as they sipped on cups of coffee as they filmed the episode. Rachael appeared excited to be back in New York and took to social media to share her joy with her 135,000 followers Posting a picture of the city, Rachael captioned the image, 'Hello old friend', adding the hash tag 'so excited'. Season two of Jessica Jones is set to appear on Netflix next year, while the couple of episodes which Rachael appears in for the defenders is also set to release in 2017.

2016-11-16 05:21 Aneeta Bhole www.dailymail.co.uk

63 /100 0.0 ‘Fullmetal Alchemist’ live-action adaptation in the works Anime and manga fans may be in for a treat as another cult favorite is getting the live-action treatment. This time brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric will be making their way to the big screen in the live-action adaptation of Hiroum Arakawa’s “Fullmetal Alchemist.”

The film will star Ryosuke Yamada as Edward Elric, Tsubasa Honda as Winry Rockbell, and Dean Fujioka as Roy Mustang. Edward’s little brother Al will be in full CG, reports Anime News Network.

Filming started in early June at the Italian town of Volterra and will end in the second half of August. The film is being directed by Fumihiko Sori and will debut in Japanese theaters around winter 2017.

“I want to create a style that follows the original manga as much as possible. The cast is entirely Japanese, but the cultural background is Europe. However, it’s a style that doesn’t represent a specific race or country. There will never be a scene in which a character says something that would identify him/her as Japanese,” says Sori on adapting the source material.

Despite the length of the source material, the story will be compressed into a single film for the adaptation. Ed will also be aged up to 20 years old as opposed to the original 15 years old to accommodate the pace.

Sori also expressed to Oricon about his deep affection for the story that tells the “truth of living.”

“Fullmetal Alchemist” was originally released in manga form, which was published from 2001 to 2010 on Square Enix’s Monthly Shonen Gangan and later released by Viz Media to the North American market. It has since then received two TV anime series adaptations, “Fullmetal Alchemist” in 2003 and “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” in 2009, as well as two feature lengths that debuted in 2005 and 2011, respectively. Alfred Bayle

Watch the official trailer below:

2016-11-16 00:00 entertainment.inquirer.net

64 /100 0.0 How to ditch the tourist traps and explore LA like a local A-Lister Los Angeles, home of Universal studios, the Hollywood walk of fame... about as touristy a place as you can get. But for the famed inhabitants who make it such a lurid attraction, it’s just home, and when I spent the best part of a year travelling back and forth from there for work, I wanted to dive behind the scenes and join them. From the closely guarded rooftop hotspots and tucked away beauty gurus, to the boutique beach hotels and the legendary Chateau Marmont - I sampled more than 30 establishments in my quest to ditch the tourist status and borrow the life of a well-heeled local. HOTELS Obviously, locals don’t often need to stay in hotels, but they do spend a lot of time swanning around their bars. And as a guest of LA, you'll need a place to lay your head. The choice is exhaustive, but only a handful consistently live up to the hype. Petit Ermitage Who goes? Demi Moore, Emily Blunt, Victoria Beckham. Why? Of all the hotels I investigated, this had to be my favourite. But then I'm more a fan of colourful mismatched furniture, sumptuous dark corridors and candlelit gardens than I am of bright, airy, minimalist spaces. So if you're that way inclined, you won't be disappointed. This is a well-guarded haven which, unlike others, you can't just wander into unless you're a guest, or on the list. But once you make it inside, there's nowhere else quite like it. How much: From $325 a night. Who goes? This place is so secretive, it's genuinely hard to tell. Why? So called because it once belonged to Charlie Chaplin, this hideaway is certainly different, but also truly magical. Located on a leafy residential backstreet, it comprises of 13 cottage residences, all of them named after guests who have stayed there - from Charlie himself to 'Marlene', 'Marilyn' and 'Valentino'. It's self-catering, so there's no restaurant and no room service. But every abode has a bedroom, living room, kitchen, washer and dryer, towel-stocked bathroom and complimentary bathroom products. The best part? Somehow, this is still one of LA's best-kept secrets. How much: From $250 a night. The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills Who goes? Eva Mendes, Reece Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner. Why? It's won several awards for excellence and for good reason. Refined in style, with vast en-suite bedrooms and great panoramic views of the city, it makes a highly sophisticated home away from home, especially if you happen to be British. How much : From $299 a night. The Hollywood Roosevelt Who goes? Back in the day, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Prince; and before their split, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Why? One of the oldest and most iconic hotels in Hollywood - also a member of the prestigious Preferred Hotels & Resorts group - this joint has seen its fair share of history, with former guests including Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin and Ernest Hemingway, among countless others. The pool is on the ground floor and always scattered with locals who drop in by day and night. Don't come for the food at Tropicana - which wasn't great, but do come for the service. Of all the hotels I ticked off, the staff here were the warmest. How much : From $319 a night. The Beverly Hills Hotel Who goes? Taylor Swift, Calvin Klein, Kevin Spacey. Why? In all of Los Angeles, this palatial pink domain is quite probably the most opulent place you can stay. Frozen somewhere in the 80s in terms of its decor, it’s the height of upscale comfort. My room featured USB ports everywhere, with lightswitch options for 'relax' and 'sleep' at the touch of a button, and chocolates with my name embossed onto them. But its most famous draw is the iconic - and very pricey - Polo Lounge, which has attracted big names since the 40s, and served as the setting for scenes in cult films including Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. How much: from $565 a night. Shutters on the Beach Who goes? Eva Longoria, Julia Roberts, Fearne Cotton. Why? Located on the shores of Santa Monica and close to Venice Beach, this place feels like it’s worlds away from the centre of LA. Actually it’s just a half an hour's drive, without too much traffic. Don’t go here for the service or the food (both deeply average) but do go for its quiet charm and ludicrously comfortable beds. Just be careful not to relax too much. My companion was refused a glass of water on the outside beach decking area because he didn't have his shoes on. How much: From $520 a night. The Mondrian Who goes? Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicole Kidman, Paris Hilton. Why? The absolutely vast rooms, wacky decor, Hollywood Hills views, and its legendary rooftop SkyBar - which is crawling with beautiful creatures from around the world. Its restaurant, Ivory on Sunset, also serves up impeccable but entirely unpretentious food. And my in-room extras included a colouring book and some popcorn - weird but satisfyingly different. How much: From $300 a night. SIXTY Beverly Hills RESTAURANTS Where you choose to dine in LA has as much to do with where is trending as it does with the actual food - but then, there's great cuisine to be had on every high-end corner. Here are the hottest new ones, and the best-established old-timers. The District by Hannah Ha Where? 8722 W 3rd St, Beverly Grove. Who goes? Keith Urban, Magic Johnson, Damon Wayans Jr. Why? The District's contemporary Asian cuisine features popular dishes from various Vietnamese districts, mixed in with wide-ranging global influences - all the work of famed chef Hannah Ha. Every ingredient here is supremely fresh. The restaurant, who boasts outdoor flame pits and lantern lighting, doesn't even use a freezer. Expect rich and spicy spring rolls, herby mint-infused dishes, and melt-in-your-mouth tofu cubes. Crossroads Where? 8284 Melrose Ave, Beverly Grove. Who goes? Katy Perry, Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman, Beyonce, Ellen DeGeneres. Why? I dined here with model Sophie Simmons, who told me she once brought her KISS legend father Gene Simmons along for a meal. Apparently, he unwittingly declared it to be the purveyor of 'the best chicken sandwich ever'. Only it wasn't real chicken. Because this is a vegan restaurant. And as a non-meat eater myself, I have to agree with him. The food here is astoundingly creative - no wonder it's one of the world's most famous eateries for animal-lovers. Fig & Olive Where? 8490 Melrose Place, West Hollywood. Who goes? Johnny Depp, Elizabeth Banks, Paul McCartney, Halle Berry and Ryan Gosling. Why? Small plates and tapas are undeniably popular in Hollywood, and nowhere does it better than the Fig + Olive. As the name suggests, it carries a fine selection of infused olive oils and plump figs alongside hearty Italian food and a lengthy wine list. YSABEL Where? 945 N Fairfax Ave, West Hollywood. Who goes? Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Rhianna. Why? It combines an upscale decor and stellar food with a refreshingly laid-back atmosphere, and is almost ways populated with A-Listers. It's advisable to book ahead, and gets pretty lively over the weekends. Little Door Where? 8164 W 3rd St, Beverly Grove. Who goes? Robert Pattinson, Jennifer Aniston. Why? Looking for a first date spot? This one will earn you serious points. Deliriously romantic, this Mediterranean eaterie boasts reliably great food enjoyed in your choice of a piano room, winter garden or patio. DRINK Chateau Marmont Where? 8221 Sunset Blvd, Hollywood Hills West. Who goes? Literally anyone who is someone. Why? Unless you're someone, it's pretty hard to get in but once you're there, it's intensely safe and private - cameras, for example, are banned. Stepping inside Chateau Marmont is like peeking behind a dusty crimson curtain. Its gilded walls seep secrets. The gatekeeper is Anya, their strict regal English host who decides who can enter and who can’t, seemingly based on whether she knows and likes them, or just likes the look of them. She drips with elegant jewels, sprinkles charisma around her like glitter, speaks with a rolling mellifluous purr, and possesses that rare quality of being both over- flowingly warm and also formidably intimidating - depending on who she's talking to. The Nice Guy Where? 401 N La Cienega Blvd, Beverly Grove. Who goes? Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Behati Prinsloo, Lily Aldridge. Why? A current favourite of the Kylie Jenner/Gigi Hadid clan, it's little more than a year old but The Nice Guy is never devoid of famous faces. It's spacious, rustic, flatteringly lit, with warm lamps and wooden ceilings, and often plays host to live music and DJ sets. The low-key Italian food, while nothing fancy, is still a crowd pleaser, and the whiskey selection is, as the cool kids say, decidedly on-point. Who goes? Matt Damon, Al Pacino, Justin Beiber. Why? The EP division is the impressive Asian-fusion restaurant on the second floor and the LP section is found on the roof; which boasts a lively bar, brilliant views and plenty of potted plants. While it's been a popular haunt among the rich and famous for around a year now, the service - on the roof at least - could be a great deal better. No Name Where? 432 N Fairfax Ave, Fairfax. Who goes? Artists and musicians who would prefer to remain anonymous. Why? There's a reason this place is called No Name. It doesn't want you there - indeed, it's been hailed one of the hardest places to slip past the door. There's no list, per se, or lines hopefuls queuing outside. In fact, it's pretty easy to miss. The owner Bryan Ling manages the band Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and music is very much the focus here. Inside, it hosts a bar and performance stage downstairs, while upstairs there are corridors flanked with psychedelic lights and morphing wallpaper. About as cool as it gets then. The dreamweaver Who? Nico Golfar. Why? With a roladex of more than 10,000 big names from across the entertainment industry, this professional dreamweaver can call in pretty much any favour and manifest just about any experience you could ask for. Mr Golfar - British-born, the brother of Vogue editor-at-large Fiona Golfar, but LA-based - has thrown parties for royals, business moguls and A-listers around the world, but Hollywood remains his prime stomping ground. RETAIL THERAPY Planet Blue Where? 409 N Beverly Dr, Beverly Hills. Who shops there? Cameron Diaz, Denise Richards, Kristen Cavallari, Miranda Kerr. Why? With eight stores in California, this bohemian haven is a boutique with a great mix of pricey designers and lesser- known, more affordable up-and-comers. Its airy, laid-back Beverly Hills showroom is a veritable enclave for local celebrities, who can often be spotted around town swinging their trademark green bags. Dogeared Where? 2909 Main Street, Santa Monica. Who wears it? Cara Delevingne, Mischa Barton, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Beckinsale. Why? This purveyor of dainty jewellery is regularly seen dripping from the wrists of superstars, and best of all, it's affordable. Handcrafted locally but available online worldwide, all its charming designs have meaning behind them, be it 'karma' or 'new beginnings'. What could be more LA? Brandy Melville Where? 1413 3rd St. Promenade, Santa Monica. Who wears it? Kylie Jenner, Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift. Why? Gorgeously soft fabrics, comfortable cuts and bizarrely low prices make this label a treasure trove for stylish staples. While Brand Melville has stores all around America, it was born here and has always stayed true to is quintessential California aesthetic. Kit and Ace Where? 1130 Abbot Kinney, Venice. Who wears it? Ed Westwick, Lily Aldridge, Gwyneth Paltrow. Why? The brainchild of Lululemon founder Chip Wilson’s family, this mens and womenswear brand is catapulting to the forefront of casual luxe, with slouchy cashmere-infused basics in neutral colours that are so comfortable you'll never want to them off - trust me, I tried on everything. It's not cheap, but not ludicrously pricey either and best of all, you can chuck it all in the washer and dryer without shrinking it. Karen Kane Where? 8500 Beverly Boulevard, Beverly Hills. Who wears it? Reese Witherspoon, Jessica Biel, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Why? Karen Kane is the designer behind arguably the most universally flattering dress on earth 'the cascade', and the rest of her laid-back but sharply cut attire proves consistently good too. BEAUTY Meche Where? 8820 Burton Way, Beverly Hills. Who goes? Emma Stone, Charlize Theron, Cameron Diaz. Why? Run by celebrity-favourites Neil Weisberg and Tracey Cunningham, Meche - a bright, wood and glass enhanced salon in the heart of Beverly Hills - is known for its classic cuts and natural-looking highlights. I was treated to a Brazilian blowout there and the shine lasted longer than it ever has with past treatments, so if silky hair is what you're after, you've found it here. Ramirez Tran Where? 8912 W Olympic Blvd, Beverly Hills. Who goes? Jessica Alba, Miranda Kerr, Mia Wasikowska. Why? Johnny is the undisputed worldwide king of blonde highlights, and he sure does take his time getting it right. My low-maintenance sun-kissed highlights took a whopping seven hours from start to finish, and it's not unheard of for treatments to enter the ten- hour mark. His technique involves a pre-colour Olapex treatment to soften the blow of the bleach, which is then masterfully painted and dabbed onto minuscule sections of the hair for a truly natural look. Every stylist at this cosy salon is beautiful, aloof and highly skilled. To my delight, little dogs scampered around all day. And proper food is served there - quite right too, given how long you're sitting there. I left feeling extremely satisfied, but with the sad resolve that if only I could afford it, I'd never go anywhere else to bleach my locks. Andy Le Compte Where? 616 N Almont Dr, West Hollywood. Who goes? Nicole Richie, Madonna, Miley Cyrus. Why? I walked into this joint with some very ratty dark hair extensions and came out cured of all my follicular maladies - the proud owner of wavy, beachy ombre locks. My stylist was particularly chatty and very knowledgeable about LA, so I spent two hours interrogating him for tips on where and where not to go. Skin By Lovely Where? 2730 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 320 Santa Monica. Who goes? Stars (secretly), models and housewives - anyone who likes Botox, so a lot of people. Why? This clinic does some of the best Botox and fillers in the business, so its waiting room is seldom empty. Terrified, I did as the A-Listers do and signed myself up for a fix of both, administered by Nurse Marissa Abdo, who couldn't have handled my wimpish performance better. I insisted I wanted to emerge without the expression of a startled blow-up doll and she delivered. I had dinner with friends later that day and no-one guessed, but I was told over the next few months that I was looking 'healthier', so mission accomplished. Dr. Bill Dorfman Cosmetic Dentistry Where? 2080 Century Park E, #1601. Who goes? Jessica Simpson, Eva Longoria. Why? Dr Dorfman is Hollywood's number one guy for blindingly white, rail-straight teeth. I was treated to a whitening session using the ZOOM! technique, which if you have sensitive teeth like me, hurts like the fiery pits of hell. Fortunately - and you don't get this in the UK - Dr Dorfman was very generous with the aesthetic injections. The downside? I didn't regain the power of non-slurred speech for six hours. The upside? No pain, and shockingly white teeth. How much: $450-$650 for Zoom whitening. Beverly Hills Concierge Doctor Where? Headquarters at 9400 Brighton Way, Suite 303, Beverly Hills. Who goes? That would be telling. Why? Dr Ali is about as charming doctor as you'll find, his key selling point being that he makes house calls. As well as offering all the usual GP services, he also administers Botox and fillers in the privacy of your own domain - of very high quality I might add - and best of all, hangover- curing IV drips, which really work. I called upon him in a fairly sorry state after returning from Burning Man - a week-long festival in the Nevada desert - and he showed up at my hotel wheeling a stand, which I found to be highly comical, before plugging me into a bag of fluids and vitamins like a stethoscope-wearing angel. How much: $100 for the IV drip in-office and $500 for a house call. WORK OUT Runyon Canyon Where? Entrance at N Fuller Ave, Hollywood. Who goes? Orlando Bloom, Katy Perry, Jennifer Aniston, Hailey Baldwin, and every Victoria's Secret model that has ever been. Why? This 160-acre park, set across the mountains and overlooking the famed Hollywood sign, is a legendary hiking hiking ground which rewards climbers with unbeatable views from the top. I meandered up it slowly, because I am lazy, but there were plenty of baseball cap-sporting runners charging up around me. It's best to arrive here during cooler, quieter periods, specifically early in the morning and during the week. How much: Free! PERSONAL TRAINER Astrid Swan Where? 1106 N La Cienega Blvd #104, West Hollywood. Who goes? Julianne Hough, Jessica Alba. Why? Astrid is one of those rare blonde smiley LA gym bunnies who is not annoying. For a highly succesful model and trainer to the stars, she's about as likable and down-to-earth as they come. As an exercise-phobe myself, I was dreading my private session with her, but she certainly proved me wrong. Astrid walked me through a range of exercises I could be doing without dragging myself to the gym, and pointed out that even clenching my stomach muscles whenever I remembered to would be beneficial. Her serious clients, she says, sometimes insist on two two-hour sessions with her a day - ouch. And while a one-on-one training session with Astrid is unsurprisingly pricey, she also runs more affordable classes at West Hollywood's Barry's Bootcamp. How much: $28 for a Barry's Bootcamp class. FLY United Airlines Why? I had both my best and my worst flight to LA with United Airlines. The worst being the incident in which my flight was cancelled, although in fairness through no fault of the airline. The best being that as a result of this mishap, I was upgraded to Business Class as a gesture of apology. Obviously the flight was therefore heaven, but so was United's lounge at Heathrow - one of the best in the world. Here I feasted on delicious food, inhaled several glasses of champagne and admired the rather beautiful lamps and indoor trees as businessmen tapped away on their laptops around me. How much: From £621 return 2016-11-16 05:06 Annabel Fenwick www.dailymail.co.uk

65 /100 0.0 The Premier League's greatest ever games: Nos 30-21 With stunning goals, late winners, controversial red cards, debatable penalties and dreadful mistakes on a weekly basis, the Premier League is without doubt one of world sport's most exciting competitions. But of the thousands of games since its inception in 1992, which stand the test of time as the greatest in the history of the competition? Here, Sportsmail takes a look at the second set of games in our countdown of the Premier League's best ever matches. 30. Arsenal 3-3 Sheffield Wednesday (May 9, 2000) Sheffield Wednesday’s Premier League fate was hanging by a thread heading into their daunting trip to Highbury where they had to win to keep their survival hopes alive going into the final day of the season. But despite falling behind to a Lee Dixon strike, three goals in 12 minutes from Gerald Sibon, Gilles de Bilde and Alan Quinn put them on course for a sensational victory with 20 minutes to play. But the dream was over as quickly as it flourished as Silvinho’s 78th minute reply was followed by a Thierry Henry effort a minute later to condemn Peter Shreeves’ side to relegation. The Owls haven’t been back to the top flight since. 29. Southampton 6-3 Manchester United (October 26, 1996) The season before, it was apparently the fault of a grey kit for Manchester United’s loss at Southampton. That excuse wouldn’t wash at The Dell for this classic though. Newcastle had stuck five past the champions a few days earlier and the Saints were 3-1 up at the break through Eyal Berkovic, Matthew Le Tissier and Egil Ostenstad goals, with David Beckham on target for United. David May pulled a goal back after the break as United pressed for an equaliser despite a Roy Keane red card. It never came. Berkovic and Ostenstad scored again, and while Paul Scholes netted a consolation it was a Gary Neville own goal that capped off the scoring for Graeme Souness’s men. 28. Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-5 West Bromwich Albion (February 12, 2012) Nearly half-a-decade on and Wolves still haven’t recovered from this Black Country derby humiliation at Molineux. Even at half-time this game looked anyone’s as Steven Fletcher had cancelled out a Peter Odemwingie effort. But the Nigerian’s completed a hat-trick in the second-half and along with goals from Jonas Olsson and Keith Andrews piled relegation pressure on their Midlands neighbours. Wolves boss Mick McCarthy was sacked the next day and it led to a huge slump in form with four points from the remaining 14 games seeing a team with a respectable chance of staying up suddenly sinking without a trace. The Premier League hasn’t seen them since. 27. Newcastle United 8-0 Sheffield Wednesday (September 19, 1999) There was little between these teams in the table – albeit both were on just one point after seven matches. But less than a month after Ruud Gullit’s resignation Newcastle’s season turned around under new manager Bobby Robson – who was taking charge of his maiden game at St James’ Park. With their first top flight win of the season – and first at home for seven months - Alan Shearer scored five times past a hapless Sheffield Wednesday team, with Aaron Hughes, Kieron Dyer and Gary Speed also on target in what was the outright second biggest Premier League win of all-time. 26. Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic (November 22, 2009) And to think this game was 1-0 at half-time following a Peter Crouch strike. Tottenham became just the second team to hammer in nine goals in a Premier League match, with an utterly ruthless second half display that left Wigan shell-shocked. Jermain Defoe scored a seven-minute hat-trick and five overall as Aaron Lennon, David Bentley and Niko Kranjcar also piled in with goals to strengthen their charge for a Champions League place under Harry Redknapp. Paul Scharner netted for the visitors and although it mattered little on the day it did prevent the Latics from suffering their heaviest ever Premier League defeat. 25. Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal (October 24, 2004) This fixture is always a huge match on name alone but it took on significant importance as Arsenal travelled to Old Trafford looking to record a 50th Premier League match unbeaten. The Gunners though fell short, not without controversy though. Wayne Rooney won a debateable penalty netted by Ruud van Nistelrooy before the England striker scored in the last minute to end a fiery contest. It would later be known as the ‘Battle of the Buffet’, with a scrap between the teams in the tunnel after the match resulting in Sir Alex Ferguson being hit by a slice of pizza. 24. Bradford City 1-0 Liverpool (May 14, 2000) Not many gave Bradford City much hope of staying up in their first Premier League season, and odds were still against the Bantams on the final day of the season when they needed to better Wimbledon’s result to maintain their top flight status. Up against a Liverpool side chasing Champions League qualification, David Wetherall’s 12th minute header preceded 78 minutes of agonising defending for the home side before they held on for a famous win – denying the Reds a place among Europe’s elite with Leeds United grabbing third. As news filtered through of Wimbledon’s 2-0 loss at Southampton, a massive pitch invasion at Valley Parade followed as a symbol of one of the great Premier League relegation escapes. 23. Wigan Athletic 3-2 Arsenal (April 18, 2010) A remarkable match saw these teams’ respective seasons turn on their head in the space of just over 10 minutes. Arsenal went into the match still in with a shout of the title and after 48 minutes looked on course to stay in the hunt as well leave the hosts in relegation trouble following goals from Theo Walcott and Mikael Silvestre. But Ben Watson restored Latics hopes ten minutes from time before Lukasz Fabianski’s error allowed Titus Bramble to equalise. The drama was not done though and a minute into stoppage time, Charles N’Zogbia’s curling effort effectively ensured Wigan were safe for another year while all but ending Arsenal’s title hopes. 22. West Bromwich Albion 5-5 Manchester United (May 19, 2013) With Manchester United having the Premier League crown already in the bag and West Brom with little to play for, the undoubted draw of this match was Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1,500th and last ever game in charge of the Red Devils. What followed was a game enough to be a classic even without the Fergie factor. United were 3-0 up in 30 minutes through Shinji Kagawa, a Jonas Olsson own goal and an Alex Buttner effort before James Morrison pulled a goal back before half-time. Romelu Lukaku halved the deficit before Robin vane Persie and Javier Hernandez put United into a 5-2 lead with less than 30 minutes to play. But 47 seconds after Youssouf Mulumbu’s 81st minute effort, Lukaku struck again before his hat-trick effort five minutes later closed the last chapter on a remarkable managerial career. 21. Oldham Athletic 4- 3 Southampton (May 8, 1993) The first and one of the best final day escapes in the history of the Premier League. Oldham needed to win to stay up and hope Crystal Palace lost at Arsenal to avoid becoming one of the first three teams relegated from the Premier League. On an atrocious pitch almost completely bare of grass, the Latics were in a good position at half-time with strikes from Neil Pointon and Ian Olney sandwiching a Matthew Le Tissier effort. Andy Ritchie and Gunner Halle added to the lead after the break but then the hosts started to choke – or rather Le Tissier came into his own. The Saints talisman struck a 25-yard free-kick before scoring his hat- trick with six minutes left. But Joe Royle’s side held on in the dying minutes and Palace’s 3-0 loss at Highbury confirmed their top-flight safety.

2016-11-16 05:05 Dan Ripley www.dailymail.co.uk

66 /100 0.0 Senate Dems ready for new leader, GOP staying with McConnell Senate Democrats are turning to Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Brooklyn-bred partisan infighter with a pragmatic streak, to steer them into the Donald Trump era. Republicans are sticking with the genteel Kentuckian, Sen. Mitch McConnell, who lacks Schumer's instinct for soundbites but has been a brutally effective legislative tactician.

Senate Democrats and Republicans are meeting separately Wednesday to pick their leaders for the Congress that convenes in January. Their selections of Schumer, from New York, and McConnell are expected to produce little drama.

That's the opposite of the House, where both parties' leadership elections have been more theatrical.

There, Republicans voted Tuesday to re-nominate Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., after recalcitrant conservatives and Trump backers upset by Ryan's frigid campaign-season treatment of Trump fell into line. Democrats postponed their leadership election until Nov. 30 after junior lawmakers demanded more time to digest the party's disappointing Election Day showing, a warning shot at House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

McConnell opened the Senate's first session of the lame-duck Congress calling for unity.

"We're not Democrats first. We're not Republicans first. We are Americans first," said McConnell, who early in Barack Obama's presidency said his goal was to limit him to one term.

Schumer, 65, has been No. 3 Senate Democratic leader and is a confidante of Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., departing after a three-decade career in the chamber. Schumer has a history of being a savvy partisan combatant willing to strike compromises, such as on a 2013 bipartisan immigration overhaul that ended up dying.

Schumer is vaulting past No. 2 Senate Democratic leader Dick Durbin of Illinois and will lead Democrats' last line of defense against the Trump White House and GOP-controlled House. Senate Democrats — outnumbered 52-48, including two independents who back Democrats — could prevent McConnell from getting the 60 votes he'll need on some important issues.

Schumer has said he'll seek opportunities to work with Trump but will face pressure from disappointed Democratic activists to adopt a hard line. It's unclear how he'll balance the demands of progressive Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., against red-state senators facing re-election in 2018 and needing protection from politically damaging votes. McConnell, 74, was Senate minority leader for eight years before the GOP took control of the chamber for 2015 and 2016. He's widely backed among Republicans.

He's pushed a conservative agenda while cutting budget deals with the Obama administration, and boldly refused to let the Senate consider Obama's nomination of federal judge Merrick Garland to fill a Supreme Court vacancy that occurred last February. That move paid dividends when Trump was elected.

On Tuesday, House Republicans re-nominated Ryan by unanimous voice vote.

Ryan will need 218 votes — a majority — to be approved when the full, new House convenes Jan. 3. With the GOP on target to have 241 seats next year, Ryan can afford just 23 defectors, but many Republicans expect Ryan to be safe in the GOP afterglow of Trump's win.

Aiding Ryan: Support from Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence, which Ryan and others underscored to Republican lawmakers before they voted.

"The momentum is with us," Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S. C., said in an interview after nominating Ryan during Tuesday's closed-door meeting. "The last thing we need is to distract attention right now with a leadership fight. We're all pulling in the same direction. "

Mulvaney is in the tea party-leaning House Freedom Caucus, which has frequently rebelled against GOP leaders.

Freedom Caucus leader Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said that while he expected Ryan to be elected speaker, "we'll see what happens" during the lame-duck session with Ryan's handling of spending bills and rules giving rank-and-file lawmakers more power.

At a meeting of House Democrats Tuesday, Pelosi told her colleagues "we've been through hell" with the election and that Democrats should draw contrasts with Trump, according to an aide in the room.

But all were not happy.

"Everything's not good. Business as usual is not going to work," said Rep. Ruben Gallego, D- Ariz., among those who pushed for the delayed leadership vote.

2016-11-16 05:03 By ALAN www.charlotteobserver.com

67 /100 0.0 US forces may have committed war crimes THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — U. S. armed forces and the CIA may have committed war crimes by torturing detainees in Afghanistan, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor said in a report Monday, raising the possibility that American citizens could be indicted even though Washington has not joined the global court.

“Members of US armed forces appear to have subjected at least 61 detained persons to torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity on the territory of Afghanistan between 1 May 2003 and 31 December 2014,” according to the report issued by Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s office. The report added that CIA operatives may have subjected at least 27 detainees in Afghanistan, Poland, Romania and Lithuania to “torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity and/or rape” between December 2002 and March 2008.

Most of the alleged abuse happened in 2003-2004, the report said.

Prosecutors said they will decide “imminently” whether to seek authorization to open a full-scale investigation in Afghanistan that could lead to war crimes charges.

State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said the U. S. does not believe an ICC investigation is “warranted or appropriate.”

“The United States is deeply committed to complying with the law of war, and we have a robust national system of investigation and accountability that more than meets international standards,” Trudeau said.

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said officials were awaiting more details about the ICC findings before commenting.

Established in 2002, the International Criminal Court is the world’s first permanent court set up to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. More than 120 countries around the world are members, but superpowers including the United States, Russia and China have not signed up.

Former U. S. President Bill Clinton signed the Rome treaty that established the court on Dec. 31, 2000, but President George W. Bush renounced the signature, citing fears that Americans would be unfairly prosecuted for political reasons.

Even though the United States is not a member of the court, Americans could still face prosecution at its headquarters in The Hague if they commit crimes within its jurisdiction in a country that is a member, such as Afghanistan, and are not prosecuted at home.

So far, all of the ICC’s trials have dealt with crimes committed in Africa.

Prosecutors say investigations also are reportedly under way in Poland, Romania and Lithuania — all signatories to the Rome Statute — into possible crimes at CIA detention facilities in those countries.

The abuse allegations came in a wide-ranging annual report into the prosecution office’s so- called preliminary examinations, which involve studying reports of possible crimes to establish if they fall under the court’s jurisdiction.

The same report said that Taliban and Afghan government forces also may have used torture and committed other atrocities in that country’s long and bitter conflict. The report says that the Taliban and its affiliates killed thousands of people and are suspected of committing war crimes including murder, recruiting and conscripting child soldiers and attacking civilians and humanitarian workers.

Referring to the alleged U. S. war crimes, the report said they “were not the abuses of a few isolated individuals. Rather, they appear to have been committed as part of approved interrogation techniques in an attempt to extract ‘actionable intelligence’ from detainees.”

The report adds that, “The information available suggests that victims were deliberately subjected to physical and psychological violence, and that crimes were allegedly committed with particular cruelty and in a manner that debased the basic human dignity of the victims.”

Before deciding to open a full-scale investigation, ICC prosecutors have to establish whether they have jurisdiction and whether the alleged crimes are being investigated and prosecuted in the countries involved. The ICC is a court of last resort that takes on cases only when other countries are unable or unwilling to prosecute.

The report noted that U. S. authorities have conducted dozens of investigations and court- martial cases and says ICC prosecutors are seeking further clarifications on their scope before deciding whether any American cases would be admissible at the ICC.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the administration of President George W. Bush allowed the use of waterboarding, which simulates drowning, and other so-called enhanced interrogation techniques against suspected terrorists. President Barack Obama banned such practices after taking office in 2009.

During the presidential campaign, Republican nominee Donald Trump suggested that as president he would push to change laws that prohibit waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques, arguing that banning them puts the U. S. at a strategic disadvantage against Islamic State militants.

____

AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee and AP National Security Writer Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

2016-11-16 05:02 By Associated mynorthwest.com

68 /100 0.0 Netflix, NHK Partnership on ‘Trial’ TOKYO — Netflix and Japan ’s public broadcaster NHK are partnering on a four-part historical drama to be broadcast next month.

NHK will broadcast “ Tokyo Trials ” about the post-WWII court hearings of Japanese war criminals, on its terrestrial channel, while Netflix will stream it abroad. Then, after the NHK On- Demand VoD service has aired the series for a period, Netflix will also offer it to users in Japan. Both companies contributed to the production costs, with NHK concluding co- production deals with L. A.- and Toronto- based Don Carmody Television and Amsterdam-based FATT Productions. Pieter Verhoeff and Rob King are the drama’s co-directors.

After launching in Japan in the fall of 2015, Netflix has made shows with Japanese with broadcaster Fuji TV, talent agency Yoshimoto Kogyo, and ad agency Dentsu. For NHK, however, this sort of production and broadcast arrangement with Netflix is a first.

2016-11-16 04:51 Mark Schilling variety.com

69 /100 0.0 EE UK seals Twitter to promote its TV offering Digital communications giant EE has partnered with Twitter for its UK TV service to introduce ‘Watch with Twitter’ functionality – enabling viewers to see what programmes are trending on social media.

Viewers will also benefit from seeing the official hashtag of the show they’re watching to make it easier to join in live conversations, with other novel features expected to make their way to the service in the New Year.

Twitter UK managing director Dara Nasr said: “Great telly and Twitter have always gone hand- in-hand – people love talking about their favourite shows and our new partnership with EE makes it easier than ever to discover which programmes are creating the biggest conversations.”

The provider has also partnered with NBCUniversal to integrate its on-demand ‘hayu’ app which premieres reality TV shows such as ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ on the same day the shows premiere in the US.

EE will further bolster its service with TV Replay, the ability to view any show from the past 24 hours on one of eight selected channels.

2016-11-16 04:48 All John www.thedrum.com

70 /100 0.0 DAC Group acquires Edinburgh-based digital agency Ambergreen Edinburgh-based digital agency Ambergreen has been acquired by North American digital media agency DAC Group for an undisclosed fee.

As part of DAC's second UK acquisition in the last 18 months, Ambergreen will continue to operate independently while benefiting from access to the group’s core services such as its tech capable of optimising local, social, and multi- device campaigns.

Tino Nombro, co-founder of Ambergreen said: “Having established Ambergreen in 2001, we have been at the leading edge of digital marketing from the beginning. For the past two years, we have been developing our business by making improvements to our breadth and depth of client solutions in response to ongoing changes in the digital landscape.

“DAC’s technology is uniquely positioned to take advantage of local ecosystems for national brands.”

Norm Hagarty, chief executive and managing partner of DAC Group, said: “Our primary focus at DAC Group is helping national brands, who have a distributed sales network of stores or locations and where sales at the regional or local level are critical to success, build an effective presence to drive results. As we expand internationally we want to partner with agencies who deeply understand and appreciate that philosophy. That’s why this is a very exciting development for us and one which I am personally delighted about.

Ambergreen was founded in 2001 by Tino Nombro and Grant Whiteside with clients including Hotel Chocolat, PwC, The Elder Scrolls and Turquoise Holidays.

2016-11-16 04:33 All John www.thedrum.com

71 /100 0.0 Jurors to See Animation of Black Motorist's Shooting Death Jurors in the murder trial of a white former South Carolina patrolman who shot an unarmed black motorist will see an animation of the shooting before the prosecution rests its case.

Michael Slager is charged with murder in the April 2015 death of Walter Scott as the motorist fled a traffic stop. The shooting was captured on cellphone video. The prosecution was expected to rest Tuesday, but lawyers spent much of the day arguing over the state's final witness. The witness, Bill Williams, compiled the animation from cellphone and dashcam video, drone footage of the crime scene and police call audio.

The defense argued that Williams, who's largely self-taught, didn't qualify as an expert. Judge Clinton Newman ruled he could testify and jurors will see the animation Wednesday.

2016-11-16 04:21 By abcnews.go.com

72 /100 0.0 Obama to outline vision of democracy in a Trump world US President Barack Obama will Wednesday sketch out his vision of democracy at a time of mounting global populism, seeking to soothe European allies anxious over a Donald Trump presidency.

On the second day of a European farewell tour, Obama will build on a topic he outlined on Tuesday -- the "frustration and anger" of an electorate that feels it has been left behind by rapid globalisation.

"The lesson I draw -- and I think people can draw a lot of lessons but maybe one that cuts across countries -- is we have to deal with issues like inequality," said Obama.

The 55-year-old Obama has chosen the "cradle of democracy" Greece to deliver a speech addressing the uncertainties that have led to the rise of populists like Trump.

Trump was able to tap into "a suspicion of globalisation, a desire to rein in its excesses, a suspicion of elites and governing institutions," Obama noted.

Obama's visit to Europe -- his last foreign trip as American leader -- has been all about reassuring traditional allies worried about Trump's campaign rhetoric.

Trump welcomed Britain's shock vote in June to leave the European Union and has cast doubts on the NATO alliance that has guaranteed relative peace on the continent for decades.

However, Obama was at pains to stress that Europe -- and NATO -- would remain the cornerstone of US foreign policy.

The US-led NATO grouping is "absolutely vital" to US interests and a strong, unified Europe was good for America and the world, Obama said in comments aimed at reassuring old partners.

"We know what happens when Europeans start dividing themselves up... the 20th century was a bloodbath," he said pointedly. Obama was expected to visit the Acropolis ahead of his much-anticipated speech before heading to Germany to visit Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom he has described as "probably ... my closest international partner these last eight years".

During his time in Berlin, he will also huddle with the leaders of Britain, France and Italy, as European leaders desperately seek clues to future US policy in a Trump world.

- 'Extraordinary compassion' -

While Obama has generally been welcomed in Greece, some demonstrators hit the streets to protest against his visit.

Some 2,500 people brandishing banners denouncing US "imperialism" and calling Obama "non grata", or not welcome, were turned away by police firing tear gas and stun grenades as they tried to breach barriers and head toward the city centre.

Many Greeks are suspicious of the United States after it helped install a repressive seven-year dictatorship in the country in the 1960s, and trade unions, leftist and anarchist parties denounce US involvement in wars in the Middle East.

Several hundred of the protesters appeared to be from Greece's vocal anarchist movement, police told AFP.

On the first day of his visit, Obama also touched on issues that have shaken Greek society -- a dramatic influx of migrants fleeing war and poverty and a crippling financial crisis.

He lauded the Greek people's "extraordinary compassion" to hundreds of thousands of people arriving during Europe's worst migrant crisis since World War II.

He also pledged support for Greece's economy, as Greek leaders seek a fresh US pledge to help alleviate the country's enormous public debt, a measure actively sought by the International Monetary Fund but opposed by leading European lender Germany.

"In my message to the rest of Europe I will continue to emphasise our view that austerity alone cannot deliver prosperity," Obama told Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

2016-11-16 04:20 www.digitaljournal.com

73 /100 0.0 Bruno Mars’s New Album Drops In Two Days: Here’s What To Expect Bruno Mars is considered a true representative of America’s show business diversity. Born Peter Hernandez to a Puerto Rican father and Filipino mother, Mars spent his childhood in Hawaii and learned to perform on stage by singing Elvis Presley songs. bruno child @BrunoMars pic.twitter.com/aEil6a1BpS

— Gaby acevedo (@Gabyacevedo16) November 22, 2014

Although his Hawaiian upbringing exposed Bruno to musical styles like reggae, hip-hop, pop, rock, and R&B, Bruno Mars was mostly influenced by Elvis, Michael Jackson, and The Impersonators. As a little boy, he impersonated Elvis Presley so well that he became known as Little Elvis.

#TBT to @BrunoMars

pic.twitter.com/5WKsXgmLy2

— cat (@Catrjb) September 22, 2016

After moving to Los Angeles to pursue his music career, Mars struggled to establish himself. After being turned down by Motown Records, the singer spent a number years collaborating with and writing songs for other musicians. During this initial struggle, the aspiring singer decided to change his name from Peter Hernandez to Bruno Mars, as those in the business expected him to sing Spanish songs like Enrique Iglesias, because, due to his surname, he was perceived to be Hispanic.

Then, with a new name, the singer achieved success as a solo artist and featured on B.o. B’s “Nothin’ on You.”

B.o. B – The Making of “Nothin’ On You” ft. Bruno Mars – https://t.co/tjGeBzFLVX –

Tweet

Watch the official… pic.twitter.com/gmr8sYuFqQ

— Rincon Music (@Rincon_Music) November 14, 2016

Bruno Mars’ album #24KMagic drops Friday. See the tracklisting: https://t.co/9gcM2tBdGd pic.twitter.com/IV5vweK9x1

— Rap-Up (@RapUp) November 15, 2016

As a music artist, Bruno Mars hasn’t stayed with just one music genre; he’s incorporated many different music styles and influences into his songs. The singer’s hit songs “Moonshine,” “Runaway Baby,” “Gorilla,” “Treasure,” and “It Will Rain” reflect diverse music styles like R&B, funk, retro-style, soul-pop, and sentimental ballads.

Watching Honeymoon In Vegas. Look who shows up: @BrunoMars as Elvis! pic.twitter.com/1k8KXiVsOs

— audiopinions (@audiopinions) August 9, 2015

[Featured Image by photographer name/Getty Images]

2016-11-16 04:13 Stacey Cole www.inquisitr.com

74 /100 0.0 The Big Read: Who let the black swans out? So unlikely were these seismic shocks that practically no one saw any of this coming. The pundit Nassim Nicholas Taleb, nine years ago, achieved fame and fortune with his "Black Swan" thesis, events of low probability but of devastating impact. The waters of the world are crowded with these once rare creatures.

Not that South Africa has been devoid of such sightings either: who would have bet that last December we would run through three finance ministers in just four days?

More recently, the admired old-new finance minister Pravin Gordhan, stands like Horatio on the bridge trying to hold back the ratings agencies armed with their lethal downgrade-axes. Who would have bet that he would be charged with crimes by an agency of the same state whose reputation and resources he desperately defends?

Seventy days before Trump even sets foot in the Oval Office, his improbable win is having a "WHUUGE" (Trumpism for "huge") effect on financial markets everywhere, not least our own.

Never mind the black swans, what about the "perfect storm", to borrow from an unlikely meteorological event which leaves destruction in its path? South Africa, with its relatively small economy but with a globally traded currency, sits in the middle of the blizzards unleashed by the weather change in Washington. And this has nothing to do with Trump's views on Africa (unknown) or on whether or not he will unleash a trade war on us and the world.

Rather, it is because emerging markets are suffering a sell-off in stocks and bonds (on which our yield now touches a record 9%) as financial markets expect Trump to tax, cut, spend and inflate his way to political happiness. This means that old economies will see new growth, more investment and rising interest rates. Since US stocks have risen on the back of this expectation, much of the hot money is leaving risky shores such as our own and heading back to safer, higher-growth countries like the US.

If we are hit with one, two or, catastrophically, three credit downgrades in the next few months, all bets are off on how we will navigate through the storm. We rely on foreign capital to prop up our high fiscal deficit (or the budget gap between declining local tax revenues and government spending) and our battered currency fell another 1% last Friday. Investors are - in the words of the Wall Street Journal - "dumping assets in emerging markets". And this is before any downgrade of our sovereign debt.

As Peter Bruce wrote in the Sunday Times on Sunday: "That debt now stands at R2-trillion and the interest we pay on it costs around R540-million every working day. "

Paying off that debt is the biggest single item of the current budget and consumes 12c of each rand in government coffers. With a downgrade, we can expect that to double. No space then for any fancy plans of government, from national health to nuclear.

Enough of the serious stuff, or else readers will be forced to imbibe some very early Christmas cheer, assuming Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies doesn't ban our booze consumption before then.

Another friend, historian Niall Ferguson gave an apparently riveting address on Monday at the Discovery leadership shindig in Sandton. He spoke of the rise of populism everywhere and how the perfect conditions here make the chances of our own home-grown populist winning power more likely than ever.

But the US presidential election set me thinking how, in fact, there is a little or a lot of Trump in our own political gang, even those who are utterly opposed to his ideology, to the extent he has one.

The obvious candidate is Julius Malema. He trades in Trump-like hatred (though his targets are very different) and rouses his audience with incendiary words. But there are, at the least, two essential differences. Trump's populism provided a winning ticket to the White House. Malema is a rather unpopular populist. In the August election, he didn't get beyond 8%, incidentally the exact score that Trump received from African Americans. Indeed, Trump having declared some Mexican immigrants "rapists", managed to win one quarter of the Latino vote. Malema's ceiling does not include any minority support here, and only a sliver from the majority. Of course, all this can change, especially in the face of an ever weakening ruling party.

This then brings us to Number One or Jacob Zuma. There's a lot of Trumpism in our president: a casual disregard for the constitution, and a joint "bromance" with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin to name but two. Indeed, the august Financial Times speculated on the weekend that Putin has "hidden leverage over Trump" in the form "of debts to Russian sources that keep his business empire afloat". Exactly the same has been said of Zuma and hidden debts to Russian nuclear.

Then there's the fact that both of these men have been accused of sexual assault, and, of course, the lawsuits. Zuma is still ducking and diving over the 783 corruption charges. In two weeks' time, Trump will be defending a $40-million lawsuit brought by students of Trump University who claim - less serious than Number One's looming charges - that they were deceived by its marketing. But, like Zuma, he also faces other charges relating to racketeering, as well as fraud relating to the same enterprise.

Trump, of course, also traffics in fact-free conspiracy theories. His two most infamous were that US President Barack Obama was not born in the US and that the father of his Republican rival Senator Ted Cruz consorted with Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Step forward into this space locally our very own Malusi Gigaba. In a speech of utter paranoia in parliament last week, this minister channelled his inner Trump. He ranted on about "abhorrent ploys by the global empire and their local political hoodlums" (the DA). Alas, as our beleaguered financial position indicates, the "global empire" is rapidly losing interest in us.

Mind you, there are two elements of Trump on the opposition side as well. Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba shares Trump's faith in capitalism and also the fact that before entering political office his entire background was in business.

But as Trump has already signalled, sometimes even the most pro-business views have to yield to political necessities, however strong the desire to "drain the swamp".

Interesting days ahead - here, there and everywhere. Cheers!

2016-11-16 04:11 Tony Leon www.timeslive.co.za

75 /100 0.0 Paralyzed woman pleads for thief to return wheelchair accessible car after stolen in Scotts Valley A paralyzed college student's specialized car was stolen by a thief and the Scotts Valley resident is making a plea to the public for help. Her car was stolen near her home Friday night in Scott's Valley and when she came back out Saturday morning it was gone. Kendra Kannegaard is the after school drama director at Scotts Valley High School. It wasn't that long ago, she was a student there. "I was walking and I was a tap dancer, a theater kid," Kendra Kannegaard said. Everything changed when she was 17. She had a tumor removed from her spinal cord and she's been in a wheelchair ever since. Just this March, six years later, a custom 2005 gray Honda Element changed her life. "I'm able to actually open the car myself, put the ramp out, roll up the ramp in my chair and then transfer into the driver's seat," Kendra Kannegaard said. Total freedom, allowing her to get to and from her job at the high school and San Jose State University, where she's majoring in drama. "It's more my independence was stolen, not so much a car," Kendra Kannegaard said. The Element was taken from near her Scott's Valley home Friday night, devastating the entire family. "She said mom, 'it's time for me to fly now. I've got my car, I can do it with this car.' So to have that taken from her is very, very difficult," said Jacque Kennegaard. Kendra Kannegaard just wants the car back and she doesn't want to focus on whoever took it. She'd rather think about the immense support she's received from the community. "There's way more people who want to do good out in the world than people who do bad things," Kendra Kannegaard said. Kendra Kannegaard says Scotts Valley police told her they tear the city apart to find her car.

2016-11-16 04:11 Wednesday, abc7news.com

76 /100 0.0 Scoop: Old couple alert: Fisher and Ford had ‘Star Wars’ affair It’s official — 40 years after the fact: Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford had an affair during the making of “Star Wars.”

The actress confessed that the pair had a romantic relationship when the original “Star Wars” was shot in 1976; at the time Ford was married with two children.

“It was so intense,” the actress told People about being with the 33-year- old when she was 19. “I was so inexperienced, but I trusted something about him. He was kind,” she said.

She added, “It was Han and Leia during the week, and Carrie and Harrison during the weekend.”

Fisher, 60, provides more details about the three-month liaison (which happened “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away”) in her memoir, “The Princess Diarist,” slated for release next week.

Apparently part of the inspiration for writing the book came when she stumbled on angst-ridden journals she kept while filming on location in London.

People reports that Ford had received a draft of the book, and that he didn’t respond to a recent request for a comment about it.

Saucy Awards were given at the Golden Gate Restaurant Association’s first gala, hosted by KCBS’ Liam Mayclem on Monday at the Herbst Theatre. Among the individual winners (in 16 categories) were: Ravi Kapur of Liholiho Yacht Club, chef of the year; Belinda Leong of b.patisserie, pastry chef; and Melissa Reitz of Bar Agricole, rising star chef. Nicole Krasinski and Stuart Brioza of State Bird and The Progress were restaurateurs of the year; Lulu McAllister Churchill of NOPA and Liholiho Yacht Club, best beverage professional; Kory Cogdill of Tacolicious, employee of the year, and Justine Flynn of Souvla, manager of the year. The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Pete Sittnick of Waterbar and Epic Roasthouse, and the People’s Choice for Restaurant of the Year was Copita Tequileria y Comida.

San Francisco’s dashing Paul Perez is among the men competing for “best facial hair in the country” and the title of Wahl Man of the Year (which also gets him $1,500 and a spot in a national ad. To vote, visit the Wahl Grooming Facebook page by Dec. 1. … The new season of “America’s Next Top Model” begins on Dec. 12 on VH1, with host Rita Ora (instead of creator Tyra Banks) and new judges Ashley Graham (model), Drew Elliott (of pop culture site Paper Magazine) and Law Roach (stylists); competitors include two locals: Cody Wells of San Jose and Courtney Nelson of San Francisco.

Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal is 39. … Actress Martha Plimpton is 46. … Actress Lisa Bonet is 49. … Singer Diana Krall is 52. … Actress Marg Helgenberger is 58.

2016-11-16 04:01 By www.sfexaminer.com

77 /100 0.0 Bursting the Facebook bubble: we asked voters on the left and right to swap feeds T he 2016 election took place under the spectre of a bubble. Not the subprime mortgage lending bubble that shaped the 2008 election, but the “filter bubble”. Tens of millions of American voters gets their news on Facebook , where highly personalized news feeds dish up a steady stream of content that reinforces users’ pre-existing beliefs. Facebook users are increasingly sheltered from opposing viewpoints – and reliable news sources – and the viciously polarized state of our national politics appears to be one of the results.

Criticism of the filter bubble, which gained steam after the UK’s surprising Brexit vote , has reached a new level of urgency in the wake of Donald Trump’s upset victory, despite Mark Zuckerberg’s denial it had any influence.

To test the effects of political polarization on Facebook we asked ten US voters – five conservative and five liberal – to agree to take a scroll on the other side during the final month of the campaign.

We created two Facebook accounts from scratch. “Rusty Smith”, our right-wing avatar, liked a variety of conservative news sources, organizations, and personalities, from the Wall Street Journal and The Hoover Institution to Breitbart News and Bill O’Reilly. “Natasha Smith”, our left- wing persona, preferred The New York Times, Mother Jones, Democracy Now and Think Progress. Rusty liked Tim Tebow and the NRA. Natasha liked Colin Kaepernick and 350.org.

Our liberals were given log-ins to the conservative feed, and vice versa, and we asked our participants to limit their news consumption as much as possible to the feed for the 48 hours following the third debate, the reopening of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, and the election.

Not all of our participants made it through to election day. “You might as well have been waterboarding a brother,” said one of the participants, Alphonso Pines, after his first exposure to the right-wing feed.

But eight of our bubble-busters made multiple forays into the Facebook feed and were interviewed three or four times – one even said the experience influenced his final decision. Here’s how it impacted them all:

From Utah to St Louis, and Georgia to San Francisco, most of our participants were aware that they lived in a bubble.

“Twelve people have shared a story with me about the Hillary Clinton bus dumping human waste into the sewer system,” said Trent Loos, a farmer and radio host from central Nebraska. “I never see positive stuff about Hillary Clinton. I didn’t know that existed.”

Nato Green, a comedian and writer who describes his political orientation as “somewhere to the left of Che Guevara”, describes a similarly sheltered existence.

“I find regular Americans incredibly exotic,” the native San Franciscan said. “I know Jill Stein people, and I know ‘don’t vote’ people, but I don’t know Trump people.” Several participants said that they sought out opposing viewpoints outside of Facebook, by watching Fox News (for a liberal) or reading High Country News (for a conservative), but most had a generally one-sided experience within Facebook’s news feed.

“If I got any Trump supporters on my page, they’re in the closet,” said Pines, a retired union organizer and liberal who lives in Smyrna, Georgia.

If there was one thing that our participants agreed on, it was that the Facebook feed “the other side” reads is largely wrong.

“It’s like reading a book by a fool,” said Pines. “It’s hard to read something you know is a lie.”

Another liberal, Nikki Moungo from St Louis county, Missouri, went a step further: “It’s like being locked into a room full of those suffering from paranoid delusions,” she said.

Loos said that he found the left-wing Facebook feed was too “confined” and he was frustrated by the liberal media’s attempts to “spin” and “justify” every negative story about Clinton.

Andra Constantin, a conservative project manager from Westchester County, New York, was frustrated by “this whole big brainwashing push to save the world from the horrible climate change”.

Both Constantin and Green agreed that a conservative Facebook feed in the run up to the election had more diversity of opinions than a liberal one, largely because Republicans were divided on supporting Trump while liberals were generally united behind Clinton.

“I didn’t see the issues being discussed,” Constantin said of the liberal feed. “Even though we can be hateful and nasty, at both ends of the conservative side we’re talking about the issues a bit more.”

When Green returned to his regular liberal feed after the third debate, he felt completely out of the loop with his cohort’s topics of conversation. “I logged in and I was like – bad hombres , nasty women , what is everyone talking about?”

For several of our participants, reading the alternative Facebook feed was not just surprising, but hurtful.

“It’s hard for me to read some of it,” said Pines, who is black. “It’s just a racist kind of thing, and I don’t think it’s cleverly disguised.” Pines was particularly pained by the way in which Obama was portrayed by the right-wing sources, which he described as “code” and “dog whistles”.

Pam Tau Lee, a retired community organizer and activist from San Francisco, also had difficulty stomaching the right-wing feed.

“Everything that they are saying is bad, I fall under that category,” said the fourth-generation Chinese-American. “The hateful stuff: that’s me. They hate me and my community and what I stand for.”

Kathleen Matz, who owns a pet care service in Oakland, California, found the “misogyny” on sites like Breitbart “hurtful”.

“I just stopped. I couldn’t look at it anymore,” she said. But it wasn’t only the liberals who found the experience painful.

“I’m seeing a lot more hate from the liberal side,” said Constantin. “It’s all about how much of a horrible, fascist, racist, misogynist Trump is.”

On her own feed, Constantin found herself winnowing down her friends in order to avoid arguments.

“I did unfollow a lot of friends because I didn’t want to feel enticed to correct what they were saying and get in a fight,” she said.

“Honestly, I hated it,” said Janalee Tobias, a longtime conservative activist and member of Mormons for Trump from South Jordan, Utah. “I’m seeing a psychiatrist trying to get over the shock and the hate from the left,” she joked. “I thought this would be easier for me to handle, because I’m considered pretty open minded.”

For some of our participants, checking out the other bubble only confirmed their commitment to staying inside their own.

“I learned that [people on the right] are way more vicious and lack a certain maturity that I would expect of adults,” said Moungo, after the election. “This just absolutely confirmed it ... They are irredeemable monsters.”

“Seeing the liberal feed pulled me further to the right,” said Loos. “Without getting the counterpoint, I was drawn more and more to the conservative side. Instead of luring me in, it pushed me away.”

But some of our participants found greater understanding from the experiment.

Lee said she was impressed by the “cleverness” of right-wing messaging, which uses “words like working class and jobs and economic stability. That promise is so great that it overshadows everything else, and I could see that, if that’s the only thing that I saw, I could understand. I could be swayed.”

Asked whether that understanding had resulted in her having more empathy for Trump voters, Lee said: “I don’t know if I’m there yet, but I’m working on it. I come from a place where I want to build a movement coming from love and compassion, so I’m working on it.”

One of our participants, Todd Macfarlane, said his time on the liberal Facebook page influenced his final decision. A rancher and attorney from Kanosh, Utah, Macfarlane is a registered Republican who was considering supporting the GOP nominee, but ultimately chose not to vote for any presidential candidate.

“The needle moved,” he said after his first exposure to the liberal feed. “I was kind of more undecided as I looked at it ... I was persuaded to think he’s a really bad choice.”

Macfarlane didn’t encounter any liberal news sources that convinced him to support Clinton, but his time on the feed helped him realize that a Trump presidency could be dangerous.

“It had to do with his overall temperament and decorum and demeanor,” he said. “It just reinforced for me the concern about what he might do with that much power.”

It wasn’t just his vote that changed, for Macfarlane. Since participating in the experiment, he said, “I’m a lot more interested in engaging with people who are open minded and are willing to talk about the whole picture.”

Constantin, who currently relies on Facebook for 100% of her news, said that she has concluded that the platform “seems to filter out credible news articles on both ends and feed sensationalist far left/far right things”.

“I have to be more proactive about getting good quality content,” she said.

Tobias said that exposure to the other side made her realize how difficult it might be to find common ground after the election.

“It’s frightening to me to see how much the left and the right are divided right now,” she said. To bring us back together, I don’t know what it’s going to take.”

For Green, the lessons of the election are more stark.

“Maybe we should stop having social media,” he said. “For all the things that social media has done in terms of making it easier for me to stay in touch with someone that I was vaguely friends with in college, maybe the ability with social media for people to construct their own reality to create a mob is not worth it.”

2016-11-16 04:00 Olivia Solon www.theguardian.com

78 /100 0.0 People-smuggling: new photos boost claim that wrong man is on trial in Italy New photographs appear to show one of north Africa’s most wanted people-smugglers celebrating at a family wedding, giving fresh momentum to claims that a man accused of being the smuggler, and set to face trial in Italy this week, is the victim of mistaken identity.

Prosecutors in Sicily will begin a second round of legal proceedings on Wednesday against a man they allege to be Medhanie Yehdego Mered, a 35-year-old Eritrean who is said to be a notorious people- smuggler in north Africa .

An Eritrean man was extradited in June from Sudan , with the help of the British Foreign Office and the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), in a move that attracted intense media attention at the time. But the family of the extradited man have always maintained that he is in fact 29-year- old Medhanie Tesfamariam Berhe.

Some of the smuggler’s former victims have also testified that the man on trial is not the man who smuggled them and an estimated 13,000 others between Sudan, Libya and southern Europe. One asked to remain anonymous because he fears the real smuggler is still at large in Sudan, and could intimidate his family there.

Before the second round of court proceedings, the prosecution’s case has been further weakened by the emergence of nine photographs that allegedly show Mered celebrating at his nephew’s wedding in October 2015. The alleged smuggler can be seen dancing, posing, holding a drape and being spoon-fed cake by his sister.

The man in the photographs looks markedly different to the man facing trial in Italy but closely resembles the person described as Mered in wanted posters released by Italian prosecutors in previous years.

Two guests at the wedding said the man photographed at the celebrations was the smuggler the Italians claim to be putting on trial.

“The guy on the right is Medhanie Yehdego Mered,” said the first source, when presented with a photo showing Mered standing in a row of three wedding guests. “Everybody knew he was a smuggler at the wedding and everybody was talking about him.”

A second source also confirmed his identity. “That’s him, the guy eating cake wearing white,” said the second source, referring to a photo showing Mered with his sister. “He is an idiot in real life too. Even at the wedding he was … fighting with someone.”

The revelations raise further concerns about the competence of Italian and British anti- smuggling operations. In June, both countries presented Mered’s alleged arrest as a major victory in the fight to curb people-smuggling in north Africa, which has brought nearly 500,000 people to Italy in the past three years. The NCA hailed its “substantial” role in both tracking Mered down and liaising with the Sudanese authorities to secure his arrest. The FCO also praised its own “crucial” involvement in liaising with Sudan.

But the emergence of the wedding photographs leaves both Britain and Italy with serious questions to answer, said Berhe’s lawyer, Michele Calantropo. “These photos are really important because they prove what we have been trying to say in the last months,” said Calantropo. “They prove that the smuggler is still at large and that he is obviously not my client.”

The FCO admitted that it had not checked whether the man extradited to Italy was the man sought by British police, but said that concerns about the investigative process should be directed to the NCA and the Italian authorities. The NCA said it could not comment on a live case, while Roy Godding, the NCA operative who led the Mered investigation, did not respond to approaches made to him directly. The Italian prosecutors said: “No comment from us.”

The photograph collection is one of several new indications that Italy may be prosecuting the wrong man. According to previously unseen court documents, prosecutors admitted that Nuredin Atta Wehabrebi, an Eritrean smuggler-turned-supergrass assisting in the Mered investigation, did not recognise Berhe. “I have never seen this guy before,” he is quoted as saying by prosecutors.

Separately, a brief Facebook conversation from October 2015 between Berhe and Mered’s wife, Lidia Tesfu, suggests that the pair did not know each other, contradicting prosecution claims that Berhe is an alias for Mered. After an initial exchange in which the pair tried to establish whether they had met, Berhe told Tesfu he liked her profile picture, and said he was attracted to her. “But I’m a married person,” said Tesfu. “No problem, you can have more than one man,” Berhe replied, before Tesfu laughed away his suggestion, ending their interactions.

Court documents also reveal that the Sudanese justice ministry could have approved Berhe’s extradition by overriding the recommendations of Sudanese investigators. His extradition papers say that the justice minister could deport him “without obligating the minister to take into consideration the recommendations of the detective judge who interrogated the criminal”. However, the document does not explain the content of those recommendations.

These disclosures are the latest in a series of revelations that raise questions about the prosecution’s case. It has already emerged that:

One of them, Anbes Yemane, a 23-year-old Eritrean student, said: “I know [Mered] very well, I can recognise him very well. That wasn’t him.”

The prosecution’s case now largely rests on three more wiretapped phone calls between Berhe and smugglers in Libya in May 2016. In the first, Berhe tells a smuggler that some friends want to travel to Libya, according to court documents. In the second, Berhe speaks with a man who seems to be both his friend and a client of the smugglers, and agrees to pass on a message to the friend’s family. In the third, a smuggler tells Berhe that a friend of his has yet to pay his smuggling fees.

Berhe’s lawyer does not dispute that these wiretaps feature his client but argues the calls contain no incriminating evidence. Many innocent Eritreans are regularly in touch with smugglers in Libya, helping to organise transport across the Sahara and the Mediterranean for their friends and family. By some estimates, 6% of the population has fled the Eritrean dictatorship, and in order to secure onward travel to the safety of Europe, thousands of them have had to speak with smugglers.

“My client is not a smuggler at all,” Calantropo said. “He has been contacted by smugglers and he called them back to talk with his friend, who was about to leave from Libya. But this does not make him a smuggler. If an Eritrean wants to leave the country he can’t exactly go to an airport. They are forced to contact a smuggler.’’

Berhe’s family say he has neither been to Libya, where Mered’s business is said to have been based, nor speaks Arabic, a language needed to operate as a smuggler in Libya. They say he left Eritrea in October 2014, one of thousands of Eritreans to flee a government that the UN accused this year of committing crimes against humanity on its population.

2016-11-16 04:00 Patrick Kingsley www.theguardian.com

79 /100 0.0 Reuters Sports News Summary Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. New Euro series designed to stop elite drift to U. S. Tour The European Tour has ramped up efforts to persuade Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson and its other elite golfers to turn their backs on the U. S. circuit by launching the money- spinning Rolex Series. Chief executive Keith Pelley described it as "a critical game-changer" after announcing that seven tournaments offering minimum purses of $7 million would feature in the new series next year. Dennis forced out of McLaren after 35 years Ron Dennis has been forced out as chairman and chief executive of McLaren, bringing to an end the Briton's 35-year involvement with one of Formula One's top teams. The 69-year-old relinquished his duties on Tuesday following a decision by the majority shareholders to place him on 'gardening leave' until his contract expires in mid- January. U. S. in soccer World Cup trouble after losing 4-0 to Costa Rica The United States face an uphill battle to qualify for their eighth consecutive World Cup Finals after being demolished 4-0 by a rampant Costa Rica in San Jose on Tuesday. Four days after losing at home to Mexico, the U. S. were beaten again, leaving Jurgen Klinsmann's side anchored at the bottom of the qualifying table without a point from two matches. Cost for 2020 Games gymnastics venue more than double now The cost to build a temporary gymnastics arena for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo has more than doubled with Shimzu Corp winning the $190 million (20.5 billion yen) contract, according to a report. The venue, which will accommodate 12,000 spectators, will be raised at Tokyo's Koto Ward with construction expected to be completed by October 2019, Kyodo news agency reported. Djokovic digs deep to repel Raonic onslaught It has been missing for a while but Novak Djokovic rediscovered his warrior spirit to tame Canada's Milos Raonic 7-6(6) 7-6(5) in a rivetting duel and guarantee progress from his group at the ATP World Tour Finals on Tuesday. The 29-year-old Serb's recent malaise has cost him the world number one ranking he held for 122 weeks but when backed into a corner by an inspired Raonic, he responded in the belligerent manner that has earned him 12 grand slam titles. Los Angeles 2024 bid plays down concerns after Trump win Los Angeles 2024 Olympic bid leaders on Tuesday sought to allay concerns within the Olympic movement following Donald Trump's U. S. presidential election victory, saying the candidacy would continue to "celebrate our diversity". Los Angeles, bidding to host the summer Games for a third time after 1932 and 1984, was seen as the front-runner in the race with Paris and Budapest until Trump's election this month. Francona, Roberts named Managers of the Year Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona and Los Angeles Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts were named the American League and National League Managers of the Year in a vote by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, it was announced on Tuesday. Texas Rangers manager Jeff Banister finished second in the American League voting, with Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter third. Prescott 'earned the right' to start: Cowboys' Romo Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is officially a backup and said on Tuesday that rookie Dak Prescott deserves to be the starter for the 8-1 team. Romo made the declaration while reading from a five-minute statement at the Cowboys' facility. He didn't take questions and said it was in "the best interests of my team" not to do so. Italy, Germany play out 0-0 draw, Buffon equals European record World champions Germany and Italy played out an entertaining goalless draw in their friendly international on Tuesday with both sides missing a string of chances in their final match of the year. The Germans, who beat Italy twice this year including in the Euro 2016 quarter-finals following a penalty shootout, were without half a dozen key players - with Toni Kroos, Manuel Neuer, Mesut Ozil and Jerome Boateng all missing. Gerrard to consider future after leaving LA Galaxy Former Liverpool and England captain Steven Gerrard will leave Los Angeles Galaxy and take time out to consider his next move, the midfielder said on Tuesday. Gerrard, who joined the MLS club after leaving Liverpool in 2015, confirmed he would not return to play for the Galaxy in 2017 following the conclusion of his contract.

2016-11-16 04:00 Reuters www.dailymail.co.uk

80 /100 0.0 Alex Nunns' new book is insightful – but can't settle the myth of Corbyn The Beauty and the Beast trailer is here, and it looks like a scene-for-scene remake of the cartoon One of the reasons why Jeremy Corbyn irritates people in Westminster is that he has risen to prominence without acquiring any of what used to be regarded as the qualities essential for success. Most leaders cultivate a solar system’s worth of orbiting journalists, who can be relied on to produce friendly columns and a supportive biography. What these writers, most of them true believers, sacrifice in insight, they gain in access: they might be regarded as slavish, but they were essential to understanding the working of the courts of David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.

For Corbyn – who, as Kitty Muggeridge once said of David Frost, “rose without trace” – the closest he had to a friendly journalist was Seumas Milne, now embedded at the heart of the Corbyn project as his director of communications, and therefore not available to write a sympathetic biography. So the studies of Corbyn thus far have been written by highly critical friends, at best.

Alex Nunns’s The Candidate is only the latest of a slew of books on Corbyn published this year. Rosa Prince’s Comrade Corbyn was more sympathetic to Corbynism than her tenure at the Telegraph might suggest – but she wrote it, nonetheless, from a Westminster perspective. Prince is part of the group that, as the BBC’s Mark Mardell once put it, covers politics “in a certain way, through a fairly narrow lens, and measure daily success and failure through a set of unwritten rules reached by instinct rather than reflection”. They make the mistake of seeing the Labour leader as a poor player of the parliamentary game rather than realising he is someone who altogether disdains it. This was the mistake that his Labour rivals made when they attempted to remove him this summer: as the shadow cabinet resignations mounted, his enemies congratulated themselves on their skill at chess, blissfully unaware that Corbyn was playing Scrabble.

If Rosa Prince struggled to understand Corbyn’s role outside Westminster, Richard Seymour’s Corbyn: the Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics attempted to clarify his role within it. Seymour’s book is the finest study of Corbyn yet written, but it comes from that section of the far left which wouldn’t, as the author puts it, “be seen dead in Labour”.

Though they disagree on much, Prince and Seymour believe that Corbynism is destined to fail: Prince because it neglects the rules of Westminster, Seymour because it is still shaped too strongly by the demands of winning power there. Accordingly, the best sections of Prince’s book are those that deal with the struggles of his opponents, and the liveliest passages in Seymour’s are those that detail the weaknesses of the Labour Party, whose strategies proved as “useful as a paper umbrella” and whose candidates were “as charismatic as lavatory dispensers”.

In The Candidate , Corbyn is at last given a wholly sympathetic hearing. Nunns is the political correspondent at Red Pepper. As far as the leader’s closest allies are concerned, Nunns’s book is the most authoritative yet published on his rise. Here, finally, is Jeremy Corbyn’s court biography.

The strengths and weaknesses of that approach are much as you would expect. As with Matthew d’Ancona, in In It Together , or Andrew Rawnsley, in The End of the Party , the best studies of the Cameron and Blair eras, respectively, Nunns knows his territory. But, as with the d’Ancona and Rawnsley books, a reader often wants him to stick the knife in – or at least apply a more critical eye. A writer more inclined to wield the knife, however, would have been unable to write this book. Nunns astutely grasps that Labour’s rise has to be understood through events not only in the party, but in the wider movement. He points out that the defeat of Ken Jackson, the last right-winger to lead the Amicus trade union, paved the way for the formation of Unite – and the assertive leadership of Len McCluskey.

The best sections take place in what you might call the prehistory of the Corbyn campaign: the early struggle to make the ballot, the formation of a campaign team, the core of which – Andrew Fisher, Simon Fletcher, Seb Corbyn and John McDonnell – remain essential to the success of the overall project. Nunns describes how Carmel Nolan, Corbyn’s press chief for his first campaign, was recruited in an interview that took place on a park bench – because, at the time, the campaign had no office.

Outside the confines of the Labour left the book is less surefooted. An early, and symptomatic, passage claims that Blair took a personal interest in parliamentary selections. Yet one of the causes of the present trajectory of the Labour Party is that Blair never invested much time or political capital in the generation that came after him. That was why the likes of Michael Dugher, the defeated Blairite choice to run in Doncaster North in 2005, assumed Brownite colours to fight and win later contests, and why most of those MPs elected in 2001 and 2005 endorsed Yvette Cooper, the heir to the mantle of not Blair, but Brown.

That lack of fluency around the animating issues of the Labour right makes The Candidate an imperfect read, though a reader who picked up both Nunns’s and Prince’s books could claim to be fairly well acquainted with every faction in the Labour Party. A book that did both, combining this with the prose and verve of Seymour’s, might finally settle the mystery of Corbyn.

Stephen Bush is NS special correspondent

The Candidate: Jeremy Corbyn’s Improbable Path to Power by Alex Nunns is published by OR Books (404pp, £15)

You might think that Disney’s tactic of producing live-action remakes of its animated classics would see the film studio attempt to do something different. Think again. From The Jungle Book to Cinderella , it seems that when Disney says remake it really means remake: with new films featuring the same songs, plot, dialogue and even cinematography.

It looks like the same goes for Beauty and the Beast. A new trailer, released today, gives us a taste of what we can expect from the big-budget movie – and it looks like more of the same, from the nostalgic opening music, to familiar lines (“Show me the girl”, “ Come into the light …”) and instantly recognisable visuals. Compare for yourself:

It’s a tale as old as time, and one you’ve certainly heard before.

2016-11-16 11:40 Amelia Tait www.newstatesman.com

81 /100 0.0 Park Bo-Gum Asia Fan Meeting: Actor’s Agency Confirms Tour Dates The countdown has begun for Park Bo-gum’s fan meetings across Asia.

Last week, Blossom Entertainment, the actor’s agency, announced that Park Bo-gum will be hosting fan meets in eight countries.

#ParkBoGum Asia Fan Meeting Tour in Malaysia will be held in KLCC Plenary Hall on 10th December 2016. The price range is from RM390- RM690. pic.twitter.com/Wr3gZGPzbY

— ☾이 영???? (@exonied) November 11, 2016

!! #ParkBogum 11 https://t.co/uHroL4Lpa7 #parkbogumfanmeetinginbkk pic.twitter.com/g1LMw6qC7Y

— TofuPopRadio (@TofuPopRadio) November 16, 2016

IME / IME #ParkBoGum #ParkBoGumFanMeetinginBKK pic.twitter.com/vm0yxIGzpg

— 멍멍이???? (@beaustory_) November 3, 2016

The actor said that he also enjoyed the local cuisine in the Philippines.

“The travel agency there booked Korean restaurants throughout the entire schedule. One day, Kwak Dong-yeon and I skipped the Korean dishes there, without telling anyone, and had local food,” he said. It remains to be seen if Blossom Entertainment will include the Philippines in the list.

“The upcoming fan meetings will be a special occasion for Park Bo-gum to hold proper meetings with his fans not only at home but also across Asia. They will be made up of various programs through which Park and his fans can talk and enjoy themselves,” announced Blossom Entertainment.

Blossom Entertainment says Park Bo-gum’s popularity has translated into more business.

“He’s firmly established himself as a lead actor through this drama. We’re getting more than three times as many requests as before for his appearance in dramas,”said Seung Byeong- wook, a senior official at Park’s management agency Blossom Entertainment.

Meanwhile, fans of Park Bo-gum are eager to see the next big project featuring their favorite star.

[Featured Image by Ahn Young-joon/AP Images]

2016-11-16 03:42 Caroline Diana www.inquisitr.com

82 /100 0.0 Nordstrom, Ward help Hurricanes beat Sharks 1-0 Joakim Nordstrom scored with 9:12 left, Cam Ward made 22 saves in his first shutout in over a year and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the San Jose Sharks 1-0 on Tuesday night. Ward got the 24th shutout of his career and first since he blanked Colorado on Oct. 21, 2015, while improving to 6-1 in his career against the Sharks. That helped the Hurricanes win their second straight to escape last place in the Metropolitan Division, in the process snapping the defending Western Conference champions' three-game winning streak. Aaron Dell stopped 32 shots in his third career game and his second start for the Sharks, who managed just two shots on goal in the second period before coming on strong in the third. The sequence that led to Nordstrom's goal was started by Viktor Stalberg, who broke up a breakaway attempt with his stick. Ward then blocked Joonas Donskoi's tip-in try, and that eventually led to a rush the other way, with Nordstrom backhanding the rebound of his shot past Dell's glove for the fourth-line forward's first goal of the season. Before Nordstrom scored, the goalies had put on a show for the overwhelming majority of this one, with Dell and Ward matching each other save for save. Dell made a slick stop on a rising shot by Jeff Skinner early in the third, and a few minutes later Ward stopped a tricky tip from Logan Couture with about 13 1/2 minutes left.

2016-11-16 03:41 (Copyright abc7news.com

83 /100 83 /100 0.0 Shapiro Tells Megyn Kelly DePaul University Threatening His Arrest For Speaking Is 'Tolerant Enough To Ban It' On Tuesday night, after 30 security officers threatened Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro not to set foot on the DePaul University campus or risk being arrested, even if Shapiro were just a prospective audience member to hear Christina Hoff Sommers speak, Shapiro alerted Sommers and her audience, prompting all of them to leave the university campus and walk to a nearby theater, where Shapiro delivered the speech DePaul had banned him from giving on campus.

Later Tuesday night, Shapiro appeared on The Kelly File with Megyn Kelly to discuss the incident. Kelly explained the incident, using the video of Shapiro confronting the security officers, then segued to her interview with Shapiro. Their exchange follows:

Video below:

2016-11-16 03:39 Hank Berrien www.dailywire.com

84 /100 0.0 Longtime Kansas City Star Columnist C. W. Gusewelle Dies C. W. Gusewelle, a longtime columnist for The Kansas City Star, has died. The Star reports ( http://bit.ly/2fTziql ) that Gusewelle died Tuesday. His age and the cause of death were not given.

Charles W. Gusewelle joined the Star in 1955 as a general assignment reporter and went on to become an editorial writer on foreign affairs. After serving as foreign editor, he became an associate editor and columnist.

The Missouri Press Association named Gusewelle daily columnist of the year in 1984, 1985 and 1987. He wrote 21 books and continued to write his weekly column for the Star until earlier this year.

Mike Fannin, the Star's editor and vice president, said in a statement that "Kansas City journalism has lost one of its greatest voices. "

2016-11-16 03:34 By abcnews.go.com

85 /100 0.0 ‘DISGRACE TO THE BAGGY GREEN’ – Aussie papers sound off after Proteas Test series hat-trick Faf du Plessis’ men clinched the rubber by winning the second Test by an innings and 80 runs at Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Tuesday. That followed South Africa’s 177-win in the first Test at the WACA.

Those victories made South Africa‚ who also won here in 2008-09 and 2012-13‚ the only team besides West Indies to claim a hat-trick of Test series successes in Australia.

All things being equal‚ that would lead to a deluge of praise in the press.

But‚ with South Africa taking all 10 wickets for 86 runs in the first innings in Perth‚ and‚ in Hobart‚ dismissing Australia for 85 first up and then claiming eight scalps for 32 in the second dig‚ nothing about this series has been equal.

And that includes the papers‚ whose pages have been filled with thousands of words dedicated to Australia’s problems and how to fix them.

South Africa? A couple of hundred words‚ often near the bottom of an inside page.

The noise‚ loud enough after Perth‚ reached a crescendo on Wednesday.

The country’s only national daily broadsheet‚ The Australian‚ is a proper newspaper featuring unimpeachable reporting and reasoned comment.

So the headline on the back page lead on Wednesday might have shocked readers: “DISGRACE TO THE BAGGY GREEN.”

“Australia captain Steve Smith is‚ like the Australian public‚ sick of it‚” wrote seasoned journalist Peter Lalor.

“He’s embarrassed‚ angry and disappointed. He has questioned the commitment of his team and says there needs to be changes.

“Smith is sick of leading a side that talks a good game only to fall on its face every time it is called on to walk a good game.

“If it were Allan Border there would have been blood on the walls‚ but Smith is a gentler breed of man.”

Lalor also made it onto the front page with a piece that referenced South Africa’s 5-0 whitewash over the Aussies in a one-day series last month that was titled “8-32‚ 0-5 adds up to an incalculable crisis”. “Australian cricket is in crisis like never before‚” Lalor wrote. “The captain has no answers. The coach has no answers. The men in suits are boarding planes.

“Heads have to roll‚ but no matter how many sacrifices are made‚ it will not satisfy the blood lust of the public‚ of whose game they are the guardians.”

The piece concluded with: “Ahead of this Test the coach‚ the captain and the psychologist said this team was in a good place. That’s a relief. You would hate to see them in a bad one.”

The front page of The Age‚ Melbourne’s respected daily‚ was dominated by a photograph of Smith walking off head bowed after being dismissed on Tuesday‚ under the headline: “The low point.”

“Not good enough‚” was the headline on the back page over a photograph of Kyle Abbott celebrating one of the six wickets he took in Australia’s second innings.

Inside‚ august columnist Greg Baum wrote: “It the meekness that was so shocking. For so long‚ the Australian cricket team’s hallmark has been its swagger and braggadocio.”

His piece was headlined: “The new normal: flogged with barely a whimper.”

The tabloid Herald Sun bannered its back page with: “1948 - BRADMAN HAD THE INVINCIBLES. 2016 - SMITH HAS THE INSIPIDS.”

Columnist Richard Hinds wrote: “The best that can be said about the deplorable state of Australian Test cricket is that there is no shortage of options‚ although most of them require a woodcutting implement.

“Axe the players‚ axe the coach‚ axe the sports scientists‚ axe the selectors‚ axe the captain … axe everyone.”

2016-11-16 03:29 Telford Vice www.timeslive.co.za

86 /100 0.0 Undermanned Chicago Bulls earn best win of the season over Portland PORTLAND, Ore. -- Taj Gibson is the longest-tenured player on the Chicago Bulls and has seen more ups and downs than most players endure over a career. Entering his eighth professional season, all with the Bulls, Gibson is a testament to the theory that the strong survive in the brutal meat grinder that is professional basketball.

Until last season Gibson's Bulls had never beaten the Portland Trail Blazers. A streak of seven consecutive losses in the Moda Center, which included multiple blowouts, another season- ending knee injury to former point guard Derrick Rose in 2013 and a severe ankle injury for Gibson the following season that put him out for weeks.

So you'll have to excuse the veteran forward and many Bulls staffers if they couldn't quite believe what they witnessed Tuesday night. It wasn't just that the Bulls destroyed the Blazers from beginning to end, a 113-88 domination , it was the ease with which it occurred. "A long time coming I tell you that," Gibson said. "I've been around, even when we was competing, even when we had some teams when we were competing for championships, they still gave us a good whopping. Finally, the way we set the game off [with] the right kind of tone, I was even in shock with the way we just came out and hit them in the mouth and just kept going. When we want to play we're a hell of a team. You never know what you're going to get, we had some good days in practice, but this is a good one. A long time coming. We've been getting our tails whipped in here a long time. "

The fact that the Bulls were the ones setting the tone against a team that has owned them in this venue over the seasons was made even more impressive by the fact that Fred Hoiberg's team was playing without Rajon Rondo (left ankle), Doug McDermott (concussion protocol) and Michael Carter-Williams (knee/wrist). The Bulls out-hustled the Blazers throughout the night and were able to continue riding the hot hand of Jimmy Butler.

"I think it was our most complete game that we played [this year]," Hoiberg said.

The Bulls played with a togetherness that was rarely seen last season. They were getting contributions up and down the roster. While Butler's sterling line of 27 points, 12 rebounds and five assists will get all the deserved praise, it was Jerian Grant 's performance -- 18 points, five steals, three rebounds and two assists -- that will be the bigger takeaway on this night. Grant, who was inactive for the first three games of the season, took his opportunity with Rondo out and ran with it.

"It's great playing with those guys," Grant said of playing with Butler and Dwyane Wade. "They give me a lot of confidence. When I was named the starter they came to me, sat me down and said, 'You're the point guard so let's go.' And that gave me a lot of confidence to just go out there and play my game. "

Check out the team site for more game coverage

The confidence in Grant's game was apparent on the floor, but the chemistry off of it continues to play an important role in the Bulls' early-season success. As happy as Butler and Wade were for Grant, they couldn't help but tease him after the game as he dressed in a old Bulls warmup T- shirt on his way out of the arena. Like a high-schooler repping his basketball team in a school shirt after a big win, Grant was proud to wear the shirt. But Butler and Wade weren't about to let the second-year player walk out without saying something.

Smiles are easier to come by for a group that knows the basketball world wasn't expecting much from them this season. While the on-court differences are becoming clearer as the season unfolds, the biggest change from within is in attitude. Everybody seems to be getting along well, and that cohesiveness helped the Bulls earn one of their most impressive team wins in several years. The fact that it occurred at the start of a six-game road trip, in a place where the Bulls have historically struggled, wasn't lost on the veterans in the locker room.

"I knew everybody was going to get along," Butler said. "Everybody was going to like each other. Are we ahead of where I thought? Not really, I don't think we're doing anything out of the ordinary. Everybody's playing to their strengths trying to cover up their weaknesses. We're paying attention in film. Everybody's working on their game. As long as you do that, you're going to be put in the right position. Guys are in this gym early. At shootaround, getting shots up, studying film, that's the reason why guys are playing the way that they are. There's no fluke to that. " 2016-11-16 03:28 Nick Friedell www.espn.com

87 /100 0.0 Thai court scraps mine defamation case in rare media win A Thai court on Wednesday threw out defamation charges against a news agency for alleging environmental damage by a gold mine, a lawyer said, in a rare win for press freedom in the country. Criminal defamation is a go-to weapon for powerful business and political players in Thailand, where activists, journalists and online critics are routinely swept up in court cases that often end in jail time. The gold mine in northeastern Loei province has been the centre of a decade-long struggle between its Thai operator, Tungkum Ltd., and grassroots activists who say the mine has polluted the environment and harmed their health. The company has filed more than a dozen lawsuits, including a criminal defamation case against state-funded broadcaster Thai PBS over a news clip produced by a 15-year-old girl who lives near the mine. In the segment, which was part of the network's citizen journalist series, the teenaged narrator said six villages had been "environmentally affected by the gold mining industry". The mining firm hit back by charging Thai PBS and four of its staff with criminal defamation. It also demanded 50 million baht ($1.4 million) in compensation and a five-year suspension of the station's operating licence, according to rights groups. But the case was dropped Wednesday by a Bangkok court, said Thai PBS's lawyer Saengchai Rattanasereewong. Judges decided to exonerate the network because it reported "comments based on good faith", he said in an interview aired on Thai PBS. "Media who have a duty to report such comments are also (protected under the law)," he added. Watchdog Fortify Rights welcomed the ruling, hailing it as a crucial step towards protecting press freedoms in the junta-run country. "However, there's still a long way to go when it comes to ensuring fundamental freedoms in Thailand," the group's director Amy Smith told AFP. Earlier this month a prominent British migrant rights activist, Andy Hall, left Thailand after more than a decade under pressure from a mounting pile of lawsuits over his efforts to expose labour abuses in the fishing and poultry industries. The space for free expression has also narrowed significantly since Thailand's military grabbed power in a 2014 coup. The junta has banned political gatherings, detained its critics for "attitude adjustment" sessions and intimidated the press.

2016-11-16 03:16 Afp www.dailymail.co.uk

88 /100 0.0 Katy Perry stuns in off-the-shoulder jumpsuit as she attends Capitol Records' 75th Anniversary Gala She helped her music label Capitol Records receive a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame earlier in the day. And by evening Katy Perry continued celebrating with the label for the Capitol Records' 75th Anniversary Gala on Tuesday. The 32-year-old pop diva looked phenomenal in a chic off-the-shoulder jumpsuit as she attended the star-studded affair. The Fireworks hit-maker was radiant in the black and white patterned one-piece garb. She made sure to turn heads while posing up a storm at the event held at the Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood among the iconic Walk of Fame. Katy's ensemble included a mix and match belt that cinched around her waist and highlighted the beauty's slender figure. She completed her look with black pointed sky high stilettos and vintage drop earrings. The Grammy nominated songstress swept her raven tresses back into a low bun with not a single fly-away in sight. Also in attendance at the celebrity affair was music legend Neil Diamond, 75, who playfully pointed out his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Rocker Nancy Wilson, 62, of the music group Heart and Tori Kelly, 23, made sure to turn heads in their showstopping monochrome attires. The American Idol alum Tori flaunted her lean limbs in a black lace mini skirt teamed with a low-cut satin blouse. She channeled her inner Material Girl Madonna with big blonde curly hair and bold red lip. Loser hit-maker Beck, 46, looked dapper in a fitted black plush tuxedo jacket with satin trousers and matching bow tie. Singer Halsey, 22, donned a tangerine satin bomber jacket with sexy black suede thigh high boots. The songstress went braless and flashed a hint of cleavage in the colourful coat which she paired with a thin choker necklace.

2016-11-16 03:16 Sarah Jones www.dailymail.co.uk

89 /100 0.0 Bowie's SA artworks clean up in London The artworks by world-renowned local artists Norman Catherine, David Koloane, Peter Bongani Shange, Percy Konqobe, Willie Bester and Penny Siopis were part of the icon's R170-million private collection of about 350 pieces auctioned by Sotheby's.

The auction house said this South African section achieved almost 10 times its presale estimate" in sales.

"New world records were set for five South African artists. "

Catherine's Fanagalo Store, sold for over R1.4-million. Two other pieces,Cat Man and Back Chat II, achieved R718,000 and R358,000 under the hammer on the day respectively.

Bester'sWhat Happened in the Western Cape? fetched R358,000, while two Shangepieces sold for R292,000 each.

Catherine said he was surprised by the amounts his smaller pieces fetched.

"But I was very happy with Fanagalo Store because I thought the estimate was low. I think the work was worth the price. Fanagalo was one of my best pieces of work," the artist said.

Catherine said the painting had originally sold to Bowie in 1995 for £20,000.

He said what Cat Man fetched was very surprising.

"It got seven times more than what it would have sold for here. Most of the collectors of my work are in South Africa. But the whole auction attracted an international audience, which was good for me," said Catherine.

The art market seemed to be on fire last week as all 356 lots from Bowie's art collection sold for a total of £32.9-million (about R590-million) at Sotheby's, far above the most optimistic prediction of £14.3-million.

But how much of this was the normal market at work, and how much was down to the celebrity of the previous owner?

The Richard Green gallery, which usually gets what it bids for in this market, bid on 10 lots but only bought two.

"I reckon the Bowie factor added 50% to the prices," said Jonathan Green.

Art consultant Diddi Malek bought a bronze, elliptically shaped sculpture, Botallack, by Dennis Mitchell, for £75000. Bowie bought it in 1995 for £2760.

Malek said her client wanted the piece regardless of whether Bowie owned it or not, but said that the price was probably driven up because it had been his.

What is clear now, celebrity factor or not, is that the dusty corners of art have a far wider audience.

2016-11-16 03:15 TASCHICA PILLAY www.timeslive.co.za

90 /100 0.0 RHOM's Gina Liano, 50, voices her frustration over the sudden 'need' for her to ditch her signature over-the-top makeup look She refused to remove her makeup during a radio interview earlier in the week. Now, Real Housewives Of Melbourne's Gina Liano has explained she doesn't understand why 'everyone suddenly wants me naked with no makeup on'. During an interview with news.com.au , the reality TV star admitted since she turned 50, this year, she has had endless requests for her to ditch her signature face of makeup. 'Every request I get is for me to take my clothes off - which I did recently for Stellar magazine- or to lose all the hair and make-up,' she told the publication. Gina added she doesn't understand the concept and will always refuse to go makeup free as it is something she has never done. 'I’ve never got around like that; I’ve always been done up. Even as a young girl, I wouldn’t go down the street without it,' she told. Earlier in the week, the reality TV star refused to remove her makeup despite being offered $5000 from KIIS FM hosts, Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson. When Jackie tried to get Gina to reveal her natural beauty, she hit out: 'I've got another appointment after this, on Channel 7, so...' 'How fearless would you be, turning up without any makeup?' Jackie responded as she tried to convince the dolled-up legal eagle to expose her bare face. Gina shot back: 'I don't know if that's fearless, I think that's stupidity.' As Jackie continued to try and convince the star, she slammed: 'Not happening darl, you couldn't pay me enough'. The brunette barrister later explained she 'looks like you need to call an ambulance' when she doesn't have any makeup on.

2016-11-16 03:12 Bianca La www.dailymail.co.uk

91 /100 0.0 Bouygues keeps outlook as performance at telecoms arm strengthens PARIS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - French conglomerate Bouygues on Wednesday stuck to its pledge to improve profitability this year after it delivered a forecast-beating rise in third quarter operating profit, helped by an improving performance at its telecoms arm. The family-controlled group, which also builds roads and owns France's biggest private broadcaster TF1, said third quarter current operating profit rose by 6 percent to 508 million euros while revenue eased 3 percent to 8.44 billion euros ($9.1 billion). Analysts had expected an operating profit of 430 million euros and sales of 8.604 billion euros, based on the median estimates in a Thomson Reuters poll of nine analysts. Bouygues reported improving profitability at its telecoms business, France's third-biggest mobile operator, which it tried but failed to merge with market leader Orange in April. France's telecoms sector, hit by a price war following the entrance of low-cost player Iliad in 2012, has been awash with takeover speculation since then. But Bouygues Telecom has said it could prosper on its own and has responded with a turnaround plan including staff cuts and a focus on the rollout of its 4G network and the fixed-line broadband market. In the nine-months to September 30, Bouygues Telecom's operating earnings reached 124 million euros compared with a loss of 9 million euros in the same period last year. The telecoms division added 93,000 fixed-line phone customers and 227,000 mobile customers in the third quarter. In construction and road building, which account for about two-thirds of revenue, Bouygues said its order book was up 1 percent in France by the end of September. Bouygues' shares are down by about 20 percent so far in 2016, underperforming a 2 percent fall on France's benchmark CAC index. ($1 = 0.9305 euros) (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta) 2016-11-16 03:09 Reuters www.dailymail.co.uk

92 /100 0.0 Bon Jovi tops Billboard Crafty winemakers throughout the ages have sought sneaky ways to pass off low-grade plonk as top vintages, and the jailing this month of a French wine baron shows the practice is still alive and well.

2016-11-16 03:08 Reuters www.timeslive.co.za

93 /100 0.0 Jurnee Smollet- Bell announces birth of first child with cute Instagram snap Actress Jurnee Smollett-Bell announced Tuesday that she's a mom to a baby boy. The Friday Night Lights and True Blood star, 30, shared her happy news with her fans via Instagram. Alongside a snap of herself cradling newborn Hunter Zion Bell, she wrote: 'So in love with our little man.' It's the first child for the former child actress who married musician Josiah bell in 2010. Josiah also took to his social media to declare his delight at becoming a father. 'He’s here…Hunter Zion Bell……@jurneebell I’m so in love!' he wrote next to a photo of his new son holding onto his finger. Jurnee announced she was expecting on social media in June. 'He+Me+Baby= Three. So in love with this beautiful blessing God has given us. #WeArePregnant!!' she wrote alongside a photo of the couple cradling her baby bump. The actress currently stars in the WGN series Underground.

2016-11-16 03:03 Dailymail.com www.dailymail.co.uk

94 /100 0.0 David Carlson who killed Norris Acosta-Sanchez an accused child rapist is found guilty of manslaughter A man who fatally shot a rape suspect he was trying to turn in to police was found guilty of manslaughter on Monday. David Carlson, 46, claimed he fired his gun in self-defense in October 2013 as he held Norris Acosta-Sanchez at gunpoint so a neighbor could call police. Acosta-Sanchez had been charged with statutory rape of a teenage girl and had been staying at a summer cabin by Carlson's home near the Pennsylvania border. Carlson was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter by a jury in neighboring Orange County after more than seven days of deliberations. He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in January. Carlson's supporters say he's more a victim than a vigilante, but prosecutors said he was the aggressor. 'Justice was done,' Acosta-Sanchez's relative Charles Nieves told the Middletown Times Herald-Record after the verdict. Carlson had been trying to help police catch Acosta- Sanchez in the days leading up the shooting. Acosta-Sanchez, who was wanted in the nearby town of Ramapo after being accused of sleeping with a 14-year-old girl, allegedly confessed to his crime. Over the next few days, Carlson and his wife, Sarah, hatched two plans to try to help police catch Acosta-Sanchez, the New York Post reported. On one occasion, they told an officer about the situation and said they would deliberately speed down a stretch of road with the accused rapist in the car. When they were pulled over, police would have their man. That plan failed. They tried a similar plot a second time, and this time they were pulled over. Acosta- Sanchez, who was in the car at the time, gave police a fake name and was driven back to the cabin where he was staying. But the moment the police car pulled in, he pushed his way out of the back-seat - where he had not been handcuffed - and escaped into the woods. The third time also failed, despite police obtaining a 'no knock warrant', according to the Post. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office sent 23 of its most highly trained officers, including two snipers and a dog squad, to the property to make an arrest. Again Acosta-Sanchez escaped. Acosta-Sanchez on one occasion fled police after they let him go back to the cabin he was staying in to get his wallet. Defense lawyers said Acosta-Sanchez showed up at Carlson's home before the shooting. They said Carlson came out with his shotgun, and the two men began walking to a neighbor's house so Carlson could call police. Carlson was remanded to county jail on bail of $500,000 bond or $250,000 cash.

2016-11-16 03:02 Associated Press www.dailymail.co.uk

95 /100 0.0 Oil wars: how Kremlin's $13 bln Indian deal almost fell apart By Dmitry Zhdannikov, Nidhi Verma and Katya Golubkova LONDON/NEW DELHI/MOSCOW, Nov 16 (Reuters) - A multi-billion-dollar Russian deal to buy Indian refiner Essar was nearly sunk at the eleventh hour by a rival bid from Saudi Arabia as the two oil superpowers vie for supremacy across the world. The deal between Essar and a consortium led by Kremlin oil giant Rosneft appeared dead in the water two months ago after Saudi state energy firm Aramco weighed in, according to seven Russia, India and Saudi- based industry sources familiar with or involved in the negotiations. It was salvaged due to the involvement of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who were keen for it go through, and after the consortium agreed to pay $13 billion - more than double what Rosneft had initially valued Essar at, sources told Reuters. This made the refiner the biggest-ever foreign acquisition in India and Russia's largest outbound deal. The tussle for Essar - a state-of-the-art plant in the world's fastest-growing fuel market - illustrates the growing battle for oil markets between Russia and Saudi Arabia, the world's two largest crude exporters. It also sheds light on the challenges OPEC member Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC Russia - which are also fighting a proxy conflict in Syria's civil war - will face in trying to clinch a global agreement to limit output growth to prop up oil prices. The full details of how the Essar deal was struck remain unclear. Two industry sources said it was rescued thanks to the involvement of Putin and Modi while three other sources said Rosneft had simply outbid Saudi Aramco. Officials in Modi's office declined to comment while Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied there was any Kremlin intervention in the deal. "Naturally, we defend the interests of our companies. Of course we lobby for them, especially on such large deals," said Peskov, but added that in the case of Essar "there were no orders from the Kremlin". "It was a corporate decision by Rosneft to gain synergies via cooperation with India," he said. Rosneft and Saudi Aramco declined to comment. Essar said it had held discussions with several potential buyers but had gone with the Rosneft consortium because their offer was considered the most attractive. It denied there was any intervention from Putin or Modi. SHOWDOWN Rosneft boss Igor Sechin is keen to buy refining assets around the world to guarantee outlets for Russian oil. He had been negotiating since 2014 to buy 49 percent of Essar from its owners, Indian brothers Ravi and Shashi Ruia, and the two parties had been in exclusive talks since July 2015 when a preliminary deal was signed. While the exact amount Rosneft was prepared to offer for the stake at that stage is unclear, Russian and Indian industry sources said it valued the whole of Essar at about $5.7 billion. However it became apparent that there were problems with the deal in early September, when Sechin travelled to India to meet the Ruia brothers, flying from Hangzhou, China, where he had been part of Putin's G20 summit delegation. Sechin walked into the meeting with the Ruia brothers soon after landing in India at 1 a.m., determined to close the deal, according to sources briefed on the discussions. As the meeting started, one of the brothers told Sechin the deal process had been going on for too long, the exclusivity period had expired in July and Essar was now talking to other parties. Those other parties included Saudi Aramco, he said. According to the sources familiar with how the meeting unfolded, Sechin responded by saying that if Essar walked away from the deal it risked losing Russian financial and oil-supply support. The Ruia brothers then said the talks with Rosneft were over and called an abrupt end to the meeting. "People started leaving the room, embarrassed," one of the sources said. Another source said the Essar management had drafted a statement to say the deal with Rosneft was off. Rosneft and Essar declined to comment on what transpired at the meeting, or on whether such a statement had existed. Sechin and the Ruia brothers could not be reached for comment. Three Saudi-based sources familiar with details of talks between Essar and Saudi Aramco said the firm was seriously considering buying Essar. One of the sources said Aramco was prepared to pay up to $9 billion for all or most of the refiner. Aramco declined to comment on whether it had made a bid. TOO BIG TO FAIL In the end, however, the Rosneft-Essar deal proved to be too big to fail. For India, a deal collapse or a delay because of talks with another party would set back Modi's drive to clean up India's $140 billion mountain of bad debt given Essar's multi-billion-dollar debts to local and foreign banks after years of rapid expansion. For Russia, the deal in the huge Indian market represented an important milestone in building a global oil empire despite Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its actions in Ukraine. Facing the Saudi competition, Rosneft formed a consortium that bought 98 per cent of the refiner plus a fuel terminal for $13 billion. The Kremlin oil firm bought 49 percent - below the 50 percent level that would have fallen foul of Western sanctions - with Swiss trading house Trafigura and Russian private investment group UCP buying the other 49 percent. According to the Indian and Russian industry sources, Rosneft and Essar returned to the negotiating table within days of the spat in early September, and the deal was finally struck. One of the sources said there was a fierce battle between Essar and Rosneft over the terms. They said the Russian- led consortium was forced to outbid the Saudi offer, which they said comprised a combination of cash, long-term low interest credit and oil supplies. Trafigura declined to comment on how the deal came together, while UCP did not reply to a written request asking for comment. Washington said the deal did not violate sanctions. The deal was signed in Mauritius on Oct. 14, a day before a formal announcement on the sidelines of a BRICS summit in Goa where Putin and Modi met. The leaders also oversaw the signing of a raft of other transactions including India agreeing to pay $5 billion for Russian long-range air defence missile systems. Two industry sources said the Essar deal had first been discussed by Putin and Modi as far back as May 2014 on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Russia's main investor show. It was unclear what form - if any - high-level government intervention might have taken after the September dispute. But the two sources said that without political will in Moscow and New Delhi, an agreement could not have been struck. "Putin and Modi saved that deal," said one. (Additional reporting by Rania el Gamal; Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Pravin Char)

2016-11-16 03:00 Reuters www.dailymail.co.uk

96 /100 0.0 Kate Mara and boyfriend Jamie Bell are a chic pair in complementary looks at the premiere of Past Forward Clearly the couple that dresses together, stays together. Kate Mara and Jamie Bell were perfectly matched as they attended the premiere of Past Forward. The lovebirds embraced classic fashion go- tos for the stylish soiree presented by Prada at the Hauser Wirth Schimmel Gallery in Los Angeles, California, on Tuesday night. For the event, Kate reached for sartorial staple, a little black dress which had a twist. The 33-year-old wore a dress which featured a high neck and a tulip skirt created thanks to a drawstring on the hemline. The actress paired the dress with a bright red clutch which coordinated perfectly with her red lipstick. Adding a touch of this season's biggest trend, the Fantastic Four actress wore a pair black and red velvet platforms. Complementing his love's look, Jamie wore another wardrobe classic - a sleek black suit - and added a patterned tie which had a hint of red. Kate and Jamie met and fell in love while filming of Fantastic Four, which hit theatres last year. While the movie was a flop, their relationship has flourished. Jamie was married to actress Evan Rachel Wood but the couple split in May 2014, 19 months after they wed. The former couple share a two-year-old son. A number of celebrities including Milla Jovovich, Sarah Paulson, Mandy Moore, Demi Moore and Olivia Munn, among others, turned out to support filmmaker David O. Russell. The Joy and American Hustle director partnered with Prada to create a short film called Past Forward which will be featured on the fashion house's website.

2016-11-16 03:00 Chelsea White www.dailymail.co.uk

97 /100 0.0 Well, that bombed! Drunk stag do party miss their trip after joking there was BOMB on a flight to Alicante... before passing out in departures A pair of drunken stag do revellers missed their trip abroad after claiming there was a bomb on the plane they were about to board in Scotland. Louis Dodds and Mark Harkness were about to fly to Alicante from Glasgow in June to celebrate their friend's wedding when they made the claims to other passengers. The police were contacted and concerned officers raced to the scene but found the drunken pair asleep on the floor in the departure lounge. Dodds, 28, and Harness, 30, missed their Jet2 flight and were hauled in front of judges after pleading guilty to being drunk at they airport and making the threats. Jet2 banned them from the airline for life and they were fined £750 - £250 for being drunk in the airport and £500 for the bomb threat - at Paisley Sheriff Court. Sheriff James Spy also said airports must change to avoid such problems, commenting: 'Disruptive behaviour at Glasgow Airport is becoming endemic...due to the availability of duty free alcohol in airport precincts.' The details emerged yesterday when the pair appeared in the dock yesterday after earlier pleaded guilty to the offences at around 3.15pm on June 1 near Gate 34. They admitted being 'drunk or under the influence of drugs' in a restricted area of the airport and making other passengers 'suffer fear or alarm' with their threatening and abusive behaviour. Procurator Fiscal Depute Colin Wilson told the court: 'Two drunk passengers were heard to say, "there's a bomb on your flight". 'Police attended a few minutes later and found the two male passengers to be sleeping on the floor.' The pair were then taken to the police station but were too drunk to be cautioned or charged. Defence solicitor David Nicholson appeared for both men telling Sheriff Spy they were 'deeply ashamed of their actions' and had been banned by Jet2. He explained: 'They were due to attend a stag and clearly the missed out. 'I understand the drink was consumed at the airport in the departure lounge as they were waiting for the flight - it appears airports have this effect for some people.' He asked Sheriff Spy to deal with the matter by imposing 'as lenient a fine as possible.

2016-11-16 03:00 James Dunn www.dailymail.co.uk

98 /100 0.0 Battle of the Somme recollections released by Imperial War Musuem The memories of the Battle of the Somme that remained agonisingly vivid for survivors for the rest of their lives are being released for the first time by the Imperial War Museum to mark the centenary of one of the bloodiest episodes of the first world war.

The accounts include one British soldier’s compassion to a dying German asking for water and his mother, and a man who lost his religious faith after crawling across the bodies of the living and the dead.

They were among more than 500 accounts collected in the 1960s by the historian Martin Middlebrook for his book The First Day on the Somme, which was first published in 1971. He only used a handful in the book; the rest had never been published.

Pte George Richard Stephen Mayne, of the Royal Fusiliers, was 19 when he went over the top on 1 July 1916, and managed to get across no man’s land into the German second trench. The memory was undimmed half a century later.

“This German, lying, brought up his arm and actually saluted me. All fear of him had gone from me, and all fear of me had gone from him. I understood no German language then, but the poor chap kept muttering two words, ‘ wasser, wasse r’, and ‘ mutter, mutter ’. It took me a minute to realise he wanted a drink of water. The second word I could not have cottoned on to. I am glad to this day that I gave him a drink from my precious water.”

Charles Bartram was a 23-year-old lance corporal in the infantry. “We went most of the time on our hands and knees over dead and dying, from that moment on all my religion died. After that journey all my teaching and belief in God had left me – never to return,” he said.

Anthony Richards, head of documents and sound at the Imperial War Museum, said: “It is an amazing thing to get this wealth of first-hand accounts of the Somme a century after the event.” He found that the accounts were notably unsentimental and non-jingoistic, written at a time when records were being released by the National Archives revealing for the first time many failings in planning and organisation of the war.

“These are the words of men who have been thinking about these events for a very long time, and have considered very carefully what they are going write,” said Richards.

George Anderson was a sapper with the Royal Engineers, still haunted by swearing at a man who leaned heavily against him, his knapsack pressing uncomfortably, while they waited for the signal to advance: “But a bullet had entered his chest and it killed him. Somewhere in his body it was deflected for it didn’t come out of his back. And I had sworn at it – I couldn’t take it back and I couldn’t help him. God forgive me.”

Harry Woodhouse Beaumont, who served with the Royal Field Artillery, recalled the supply of rum. “Some added rum to their water bottles, which they did not want when later crying wounded.” He witnessed the gigantic explosion that created the Lochnagar Crater, and later took a running jump down into a German trench: “With all my equipment and Lewis gun I arrived with a hell of a crash right amongst a dozen Jerries who immediately put their hands up and said comrade.”

He also recalled the horror of the first aid posts being swamped with casualties: “Wounded lay in no man’s land and between the trenches captured but still under fire for days. The dressing stations and casualty stations were over whelmed and thousands of wounded men died who could have been saved with medical attention.”

He added: “Pte Jimmy Mitchell from Newcastle set a wonderful example in bringing in the wounded. No medals for Jimmy as there were no officers or senior NCO left to make any report.” LCpl Tom Robert Short found the impeccably built German trenches completely unscathed by a week of British artillery fire. He hoped to get back to his own lines at dusk, but ended up facing a fixed bayonet charge by 20 Germans.

“In a split second before the moment of connecting my stomach with a bayonet at which I was nearly passed out with terror, a terrific shout of ‘halt’ came from somewhere, and knowing how disciplined the German soldier is, the bod coming at me slid flat on his back, his rifle shot straight up in the air, and his legs shot between mine.

“Another German used his own field dressing to bandage Short’s injured elbow, and a German officer led him into their trench saying: ‘Come along you men, you’ve done enough for one day, get down this dugout before you get hit.’ Short was eventually treated in hospital in Hanover, and a prisoner of war until the armistice.’

Middlebrook found the veterans through hundreds of small ads in local papers across the country. He sent them questionnaires, and in some cases followed these up with face to face interviews, but only the original responses survive.

He gave the raw material to an academic friend, and they have now been donated to the Imperial War Museum by the Felix Fund, in memory of Holly Angharad Davies, the daughter of the academic who worked for the charity and died young.

The accounts are being added to the museum’s Lives of the first world war site and Richards hopes families will add more details and images of the lives after the war of the men who could not forget.

2016-11-16 03:00 Maev Kennedy www.theguardian.com

99 /100 0.0 Labour and unions demand action on temp agencies’ tax avoidance Labour and trade unions have called on the government to take action after a Guardian investigation found that an aggressive tax avoidance scheme used by temporary recruitment agencies is depriving the taxpayer of “hundreds of millions” of pounds a year.

Agencies have made large sums by using “contrived” financial arrangements to slash their employer’s national insurance bills and by exploiting VAT rules originally designed to benefit very small businesses. Guardian undercover footage shows Patrick Griffin of Premier Payco, a provider of the schemes, outlining how workers’ contracts are transferred from a single employment agency into a web of thousands of tiny companies, to benefit from an accumulation of small tax breaks, and how each of the companies is ostensibly run by overseas directors.

Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said such agencies were “exploiting loopholes in the law in their pursuit of profit”.

“Not only do these kind of tax avoidance schemes place workers employed by agencies involved in an unacceptably precarious position, not knowing what will happen to their jobs should the company be investigated, they deny the exchequer significant revenue,” she said.

The government had “failed to tackle tax avoidance head on” and had reduced the ability of HMRC officials to do so, Long-Bailey said. “Labour will shut down these aggressive schemes through our tax transparency and enforcement programme to get a fair deal for workers and for the Treasury.”

The construction union Ucatt said it hoped the Guardian investigation would prompt the government to take action. Its acting general secretary, Brian Rye, said: “Maybe with this latest example of what we consider criminal behaviour, HMRC will finally allocate the resources to clean up the dodgy world of employment agencies and put a stop to the daylight robbery carried out against the British taxpayer and the British construction worker.”

Last year, HMRC advised anybody using such a scheme to notify it to “avoid the costs of litigation and minimise any interest and penalties due on underpaid national insurance”.

However, despite that warning, the Guardian understands that there has been a spike in the number of firms marketing similar schemes since April, when the government closed down a different tax avoidance scheme widely used by the employment agency sector.

Asked about the ethics of profiting at the expense of the taxpayer, the Guardian footage shows Griffin saying: “All I can do is explain to you what our product does. It’s right for some businesses and it’s wrong for other businesses. I’ve sat where you’re sat and you make your own judgments and decisions on that. All I can do is present to you the case that what we’re doing is effective, it works and it complies with all of the laws as they’re currently written.”

Griffin said his company has a QC’s opinion stating that the Premier Payco scheme legally helps clients avoid taxes, because it is based on “genuine” commercial relationships between the interacting companies and had not been created specifically to avoid tax.

However, not all tax lawyers agree. Having been shown Premier Payco marketing documents and viewed sections of the Guardian’s undercover footage, Jolyon Maugham QC, a tax barrister at Devereux Chambers, said: “It’s a not particularly sophisticated piece of failed tax avoidance because, having read through the document, I have no real doubt that the scheme doesn’t work. “So what it does, it piles up tax liabilities in a [tiny] shell company and it does so in a way that the organisers of the scheme know that those tax liabilities will never be met. So that shell company will fold if HMRC ever catches up with it and HMRC – and indeed by extension the rest of us – will be kept out of the tax that we need to fund schools and hospitals, and pensions and social care.”

Maugham said the salesman was “doing a soft-shoe shuffle on what is the critical question of law, which is whether one of the main purposes of these arrangements is to obtain a tax saving. As I listen to [Griffin’s] answer and as I read the documents you’ve been provided with, it’s abundantly clear to me that this is one of the main purposes.

“It is perfectly reasonable to think the loss to the exchequer of this sort of abuse runs into the hundreds of millions if not billions of NICs [national insurance contributions], and prospectively VAT,” he said.

The sale of these schemes is being ramped up despite concern about their efficacy, the Guardian understands.

The HMRC notice followed a BBC report on similar arrangements being marketed by a supplier called Anderson Group .

In the notice , HMRC said: “Attempted avoidance schemes like this, which seek to use artificial and contrived arrangements to get an unintended advantage, do not work. HMRC’s firm view is that such schemes are notifiable under the disclosure of tax avoidance schemes rules. Anyone who comes within the meaning of a promoter for such a scheme who has not notified it under the Dotas rules could be liable for a fine of up to £1m.”

The employment agencies identified by the Guardian as using these schemes supply temporary labour to some of the UK’s best-known brands, as well as the public sector.

Premier Payco, which claims to have 6,000 workers enrolled on its system, cites recruitment group MTrec as one of its clients. MTrec supplies workers to the NHS and a series of industrial clients.

HRGO, an agency that uses a similar product, has a major contract with support services group G4S and says it supplies workers to the NHS as well as the prison service.

Another employment agency called Jark, which also places its workers with the NHS as well as FTSE 100 companies such as Shell and Burberry, is understood to be using an employment allowance product supplied by financial services group Contrella.

Because each mini employment company created in these schemes employs only two or three workers, the taxes it has to pay on its wage bill are small. That small tax bill can be effectively eradicated by each mini company claiming a £3,000 government subsidy called the employment allowance, which can only be claimed once by a company and was designed to help very small businesses create more jobs or increase wages.

The mini employment companies can also generate an additional windfall by charging VAT at 20% but paying it back to the government at about 12%, exploiting arrangements designed to free very small businesses with revenues of less than £150,000 a year from red tape. Marketing materials produced by Premier Payco and seen by the Guardian claim the company has 6,000 temporary workers enrolled in its scheme. Along with similar products supplied by providers such as Contrella and Anderson Group, one employment agency insider calculates that the exchequer is losing about £100m a year from the schemes alone.

A spokesman for Premier Payco said: “We are confident that we operate within all relevant guidance and legislation, and we constantly review the regulatory landscape to ensure our ongoing compliance by reference to leading counsel, tax advisers and employment specialists.”

Anderson Group said that it had taken QCs’ advice on the services to ensure the arrangements were legal and compliant with any relevant legislation, and that it had offered schemes on behalf of a client. Contrella did not respond to invitations to comment.

Among the agencies using this type of arrangement, HRGO and Jark said they took compliance seriously and had taken legal advice before signing up with any suppliers of this type of scheme. MTrec did not respond to invitations to comment.

Burberry and G4S said they had not benefited from any of the tax arrangements of their employment agencies. Shell declined to comment.

2016-11-16 03:00 Simon Goodley www.theguardian.com

100 /100 0.0 Fashion dreams come true with Gert-Johan Coetzee bursary Matric student Andrea Beyers won the fashion bursary, while two 28-year- olds who both thought their fashion dreams would never come to anything, won the fashion communication and buying bursaries.

Thembakazi Stokwe and Xoliswa Kawuzela will both leave their full-time jobs to pursue their dreams.

In addition to the bursaries which are worth R500 000 in total, Thembakazi was selected by Dr Judy Dlamini for the Luminance Social Responsibility Grant, where she will be mentored by Judy and spend the holidays interning at the luxury boutique.

Meanwhile, Xoliswa and Andrea will be mentored by Gert at his fashion house in Joburg.

17-year-old Andrea, who grew up in Mitchell's Plain, said fashion has always been in her blood.

"I was about five years old when I started drawing dresses, and I’ve always loved putting together looks that are different. " For the first time in the seven years that his bursary program has run, the designer also catered for students who want a more business-orientated course. It was this that inspired Dlamini to get on board with a Luminance grant.

“Those of us who are fortunate in business have a responsibility to invest in the next generation,” said Gert.

2016-11-16 03:00 TshisaLIVE www.timeslive.co.za

Total 100 articles.

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Created at 2016-11-16 12:20